Hanan - UPDV Updated Bible Version

Hanan is a name borne by several different men in the Hebrew Scriptures, most of them clustered in the genealogies of Chronicles and the post-exilic registers of Ezra and Nehemiah, with one further appearance in Jeremiah. The figures share little beyond the name itself; they belong to different tribes, generations, and offices.

Among the Benjamites

Two Hanans appear in the Benjamite genealogies of 1 Chronicles 8. The first is one of the sons of Shashak: "and Abdon, and Zichri, and Hanan," (1Ch 8:23). The second is the youngest of the six sons of Azel, a descendant of Saul through Jonathan: "And Azel had six sons, whose names are these: Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel" (1Ch 8:38). The same household is repeated in the parallel register of 1 Chronicles 9: "And Azel had six sons, whose names are these: Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan: these were the sons of Azel" (1Ch 9:44).

Among David's Mighty Men

A different Hanan stands in the roll of David's warriors, identified by his father rather than his tribe: "Hanan the son of Maacah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite," (1Ch 11:43).

Among the Nethinim

The post-exilic returnee lists name a Hanan whose descendants belonged to the Nethinim — the temple servants the UPDV renders as "those given [to temple service]." Ezra's register reports "the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan," (Ezr 2:46), and Nehemiah's parallel list repeats "the sons of Hanan, the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar," (Ne 7:49).

A Levite Who Taught the Law

When Ezra read the law to the assembled people, a Hanan stood among the Levites who interpreted it for the hearers: "Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people [stood] in their place" (Ne 8:7). The same Hanan is named again in the company of Levites who attached their seal to the renewed covenant: "and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan," (Ne 10:10).

He is most likely the Hanan son of Zaccur whom Nehemiah later set over the storehouses: "And I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were counted faithful, and their business was to distribute to their brothers" (Ne 13:13). Hanan's place in this group rests on a single ground — that he and his colleagues "were counted faithful."

Chiefs Who Sealed the Covenant

The same sealing list in Nehemiah 10 records two further Hanans among the chiefs of the people: "Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah," (Ne 10:22), and a few lines later, "and Ahiah, Hanan, Anan," (Ne 10:26). Their names stand in a long roll of leaders who bound themselves to the law alongside Nehemiah.

Hanan Son of Igdaliah, the Man of God

The last Hanan is attached to a chamber in the temple. Jeremiah is told to fetch the Rechabites and offer them wine, and the room he uses is named for this Hanan: "Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into the house of Yahweh, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink. Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites; and I brought them into the house of Yahweh, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold" (Jer 35:2-4).