Jahdiel

Jahdiel is named once, as one of seven heads of the father-houses of the half-tribe of Manasseh that settled east of the Jordan.

A Head of Manasseh's Father-Houses

The single occurrence reads: "And these were the heads of their fathers' houses: even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valor, famous men, heads of their fathers' houses" (1Ch 5:24). The Chronicler names Jahdiel last in the seven and applies the entire qualifier — "mighty men of valor, famous men, heads of their fathers' houses" — collectively to the group.

Setting and Aftermath

The notice sits in a short panel on the trans-Jordan half-tribe. They "dwelt in the land: they increased from Bashan to Baal-hermon and Senir and mount Hermon" (1Ch 5:23). The very next verses turn the panel sharply: "And they trespassed against the God of their fathers, and went whoring after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God destroyed before them" (1Ch 5:25), with the result that "the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away" (1Ch 5:26). Jahdiel is named in the prosperous moment that immediately precedes the trespass and the deportation. The text gives no further information about him as an individual — no genealogy, no episode, no later mention.