Giddel

Giddel is a name borne by the founders of two distinct family lines that returned with Zerubbabel from the Babylonian exile. Both lines appear only in the parallel post-exilic registers of Ezra and Nehemiah.

A Family of the Nethinim

The first Giddel heads a clan among the Nethinim — the temple servants who returned to assist with the rebuilt sanctuary. The Ezra register lists them in a long enumeration of clan-names: "the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah" (Ezr 2:47). Nehemiah's parallel preserves the same family in a slightly different sequence: "the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar" (Ne 7:49).

A Family of Solomon's Servants

A second Giddel stands at the head of a line descended from Solomon's servants, recorded in the section that immediately follows the Nethinim list. Ezra's catalogue runs: "the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel" (Ezr 2:56). Nehemiah's parallel reads: "the sons of Jaala, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel" (Ne 7:58). The two registers preserve the same line under slightly variant spelling of its companion clan.