Koz

Koz, also called Hakkoz, is a priestly name attached to a Levitical course assigned to temple service under David and to a priestly family that returned from the Babylonian exile. The UPDV consistently renders the name as Hakkoz across all five passages where it appears.

A Priestly Course Under David

When David organized the priests into twenty-four divisions for temple service, the lot for the seventh course fell to Hakkoz: "the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah" (1Ch 24:10). The name takes its place in the rotation alongside Abijah, the course of which Zechariah the father of John the Baptist would later be a member.

Genealogical Question After the Exile

When the priests returning from Babylon were enrolled, the sons of Hakkoz were among those whose lineage could not be verified from the registers. The list in Ezra reads: "And of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name" (Ezra 2:61). Nehemiah's parallel register repeats the same notice, with a slight variant in the spelling of the first family: "And of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name" (Neh 7:63). The defective genealogy of these houses placed them under disability with respect to the priesthood.

Repairing the Walls of Jerusalem

A descendant of Hakkoz named Meremoth, the son of Uriah, takes a prominent role in Nehemiah's account of the rebuilding of the Jerusalem walls. He repairs one section near the start of the work: "And next to them repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz. And next to them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel. And next to them repaired Zadok the son of Baana" (Neh 3:4). Later in the same chapter Meremoth returns to take on a second portion of the wall: "After him repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah the son of Hakkoz another portion, from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib" (Neh 3:21). The line of Hakkoz, listed in Ezra and Nehemiah 7 among the priests of uncertain genealogy, is here represented by a son who labors twice over on the restored walls of the city.