Harim

Harim is a name borne by several distinct figures and ancestral houses in the post-exilic record: a priestly course assigned its lot in David's organization of temple service, a lay clan and a priestly clan that both returned from Babylon under Zerubbabel, sons of that priestly house who had taken foreign wives in Ezra's day, and signers (both priestly and lay) of the covenant Nehemiah sealed at Jerusalem. The narrators do not collapse these Harims into one figure; they leave them distributed across genealogies, returnee rolls, divorce lists, covenant signatures, and registers of priestly heads.

A Priestly Course Under David

When David, with Zadok and Ahimelech, divides the sons of Aaron "according to their ordering in their service" (1 Chr 24:3), the lots are cast and the third course falls to Harim: "the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim" (1 Chr 24:8). Harim here is one of twenty-four heads of fathers' houses set over the rotation of priestly duty at the sanctuary.

Two Houses Returned from Babylon

Two separate Harim-houses appear in the Zerubbabel return-list, and the editor of Ezra is careful to keep them apart. In the lay census, between Magbish, Lod, Hadid, Ono, and Jericho, stands "The sons of Harim, three hundred and twenty" (Ezra 2:32), with the parallel "The sons of Harim, three hundred and twenty" (Neh 7:35). A separate Harim heads a priestly house immediately after the heading "The priests": "The sons of Harim, a thousand and seventeen" (Ezra 2:39), repeated in the Nehemiah register as "The sons of Harim, a thousand [and] seventeen" (Neh 7:42). The lay clan numbers 320; the priestly clan numbers 1,017. Both make the journey home.

Among Those Who Put Away Foreign Wives

In Ezra's reform, when the men of Israel who had married foreign wives are enumerated by clan, the priestly Harim-house contributes five names: "And [of] the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon" (Ezra 10:31). The list places these among the priests answerable for the mixed marriages, alongside the houses of Jedaiah, Immer, and Pashhur named earlier in the chapter.

Sealing the Covenant Under Nehemiah

When the people seal the covenant Nehemiah brings before them, two men named Harim appear among the signers, and the structure of Nehemiah 10 keeps the priestly and lay subscriptions distinct. The first Harim signs in the priests' register: "Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah" (Neh 10:5), inside the bracket that closes "these were the priests" (Neh 10:8). The second Harim signs further down with the chiefs of the people: "Malluch, Harim, Baanah" (Neh 10:27). The names are identical; the offices and lay/priestly status are not.

A Priestly Father's House Under Joiakim

In the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, when the chronicler lists the priests by fathers' house and names the head of each, Harim's house is represented by Adna: "of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai" (Neh 12:15). This entry confirms that the priestly Harim-line of Ezra 2:39 and Neh 7:42 — and behind it the Davidic course of 1 Chr 24:8 — was still recognized as a continuing priestly fathers' house in the next generation after the return.