Binnui

Binnui is a name carried by several distinct Jewish men in the post-exilic period, all of whom appear in Ezra and Nehemiah. The name surfaces as a clan head in the return lists, as a Levite who helped rebuild Jerusalem and seal the covenant, and as one of the men in the registers of those who had married foreign wives.

Head of a Returnee Clan

Nehemiah's register of those who came up from captivity numbers "the sons of Binnui, six hundred forty and eight" (Ne 7:15). The parallel register in Ezra preserves the same family under a variant spelling: "The sons of Bani, six hundred forty and two" (Ezr 2:10). Apart from the slightly different total, the two lists describe the same returning household.

A Levite of the Sons of Henadad

A second Binnui belongs to the Levitical line of Henadad and is active in the rebuilding of Jerusalem under Nehemiah. He repairs a section of the wall: "After him repaired Binnui the son of Henadad another portion, from the house of Azariah to the turning [of the wall], and to the corner" (Ne 3:24). He is later among the Levites who put their seal to the covenant before Yahweh: "And the Levites: namely, Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel" (Ne 10:9). The same Binnui appears among the Levites listed at the dedication of the wall: "Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, [and] Mattaniah, who was over the thanksgiving, he and his brothers" (Ne 12:8).

Father of Noadiah

A third Binnui is named only as the father of a Levite who assisted Ezra. When the silver, gold, and temple vessels brought from Babylon were weighed in the house of God, the work was entrusted to Meremoth and Eleazar "and with them Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levites" (Ezr 8:33).

Son of Pahath-moab

In Ezra's roster of those who had taken foreign wives, a Binnui is listed among the sons of Pahath-moab: "And of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh" (Ezr 10:30).

Son of Bani

Further down the same chapter, another Binnui appears in the section drawn from the sons of Bani: "and Bani, and Binnui, Shimei" (Ezr 10:38). The placement after his father's name distinguishes this Binnui from the Pahath-moab branch a few verses earlier.