Jedaiah

Jedaiah is a name borne by several men in the post-exilic and earlier Old Testament records — a Simeonite ancestor, a wall-builder under Nehemiah, and three priests connected with the return from Babylon. The UPDV preserves all five within the genealogies, the priestly courses, the lists of returnees, and a single prophetic action in Zechariah.

A Simeonite Ancestor

The earliest Jedaiah appears in the genealogy of the tribe of Simeon, named as a forefather of Ziza: "and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah-" (1Ch 4:37). The Chronicler embeds him in a chain of clan heads without further narrative.

A Returned Exile Who Repaired the Wall

Among those who rebuilt Jerusalem's wall under Nehemiah, one Jedaiah works on the section in front of his own house: "And next to them repaired Jedaiah the son of Harumaph, across from his house. And next to him repaired Hattush the son of Hashabneiah" (Neh 3:10). His patronymic — son of Harumaph — and the placement of his repair "across from his house" mark him out from the priestly Jedaiahs that follow.

A Priest of the Captivity

A Jedaiah heads one of the priestly courses in the records preserved from before and after the captivity. The Chronicler's resettlement list names him first among the priests who took up residence again in Jerusalem: "And of the priests: Jedaiah, and Jehoiarib, Jachin," (1Ch 9:10). The same Jedaiah holds the second of the twenty-four priestly courses assigned by lot under David: "Now the first lot came forth to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah," (1Ch 24:7).

His house returned in great strength with Zerubbabel. Both Ezra and Nehemiah preserve the same count: "The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred seventy and three" (Ezr 2:36); "The priests: The sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred seventy and three" (Neh 7:39). Of all the returning priestly families named in those lists, the sons of Jedaiah are the most numerous.

A Priest in Restored Jerusalem

A second priestly Jedaiah — distinguished by his patronymic — settled in Jerusalem after the return: "Of the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin," (Neh 11:10). He appears in the same opening register of priests who came up with Zerubbabel and Jeshua: "Shemaiah, and Joiarib, Jedaiah" (Neh 12:6). When that register is brought down a generation, to the days of Joiakim, the head of his ancestral house is recorded: "and of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi;" (Neh 12:19).

This same Jedaiah — or his house — is the recipient of a prophetic act in Zechariah. The prophet is sent to gather silver and gold from three returnees and to forge symbolic crowns: "Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah; and you come the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have come from Babylon;" (Zec 6:10). The crowns themselves become a lasting memorial: "And the crowns will be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and for the kindness of the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of Yahweh" (Zec 6:14). UPDV preserves the variant of the donor's name across the two verses — Heldai in v.10, Helem in v.14 — without harmonization.

Another Priest with Nehemiah

A third priestly Jedaiah closes the roster of those who returned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua, and is explicitly grouped with the chiefs of his order: "Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua" (Neh 12:7). One generation later, in the days of Joiakim, his house too has its named head: "of Hilkiah, Hashabiah; of Jedaiah, Nethanel" (Neh 12:21).

The recurrence of the name across the priestly registers — once near the top of the list, once near the bottom — is what allows the post-exilic record to distinguish two Jedaiahs serving in restored Jerusalem at the same time.