Maaseiah

The name Maaseiah is borne by a series of distinct men in the historical and prophetic books, mostly clustered in the late monarchy and the post-exilic restoration. The figures gather in three main settings: the temple service under David, Joash, Uzziah, Ahaz, and Josiah; the priestly and lay rosters of Ezra and Nehemiah; and the prophetic narratives of Jeremiah, where two priests named Maaseiah appear as fathers of figures around Zedekiah's court. A separate spelling, Mahseiah, surfaces twice in Jeremiah as the grandfather of Baruch and Seraiah.

A Levite Musician under David

The first Maaseiah appears in the Davidic organization of the ark procession. Among the second-degree Levites set in office under Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, the chronicler lists "Zechariah, son, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the doorkeepers" (1 Chronicles 15:18). Within the same arrangement he is named again with the company "with psalteries set to Alamoth" (1 Chronicles 15:20).

A Captain in Jehoiada's Covenant

Under the boy Joash, when the priest Jehoiada moved to overthrow Athaliah, Maaseiah son of Adaiah is one of the five captains of hundreds bound into covenant. "And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him" (2 Chronicles 23:1).

An Officer in Uzziah's Reckoning

Under Uzziah a Maaseiah serves as an army officer charged with the muster: "Moreover Uzziah had an army of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their reckoning made by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains" (2 Chronicles 26:11).

The King's Son Slain under Ahaz

In the Ephraimite invasion of Judah under Ahaz, a Maaseiah called "the king's son" is among the principal casualties: "And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king's son, and Azrikam the leader of the house, and Elkanah who was next to the king" (2 Chronicles 28:7).

Governor of the City under Josiah

A Maaseiah holds the office of city governor when Josiah purges the land and commissions the temple repair: "Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of Yahweh his God" (2 Chronicles 34:8).

Priestly Maaseiahs in Ezra's List of Foreign Marriages

The name reappears as a recurring priestly name in the Ezra reform. Among "the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brothers" who had married foreign women is "Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah" (Ezra 10:18). A second Maaseiah is named "of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah" (Ezra 10:21), and a third "of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah" (Ezra 10:22). A lay Maaseiah follows in the same chapter, "of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh" (Ezra 10:30).

At Ezra's Side at the Reading of the Law

When Ezra reads the Law from the wooden pulpit, a Maaseiah stands at his right hand: "and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Uriah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand" (Nehemiah 8:4). A Maaseiah is then listed among the Levites who unfolded the reading: "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" (Nehemiah 8:7).

Priests with Trumpets at the Wall Dedication

Two priests of this name appear in the dedication procession of the rebuilt wall. The first is named with the priests "with trumpets": "and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets" (Nehemiah 12:41); the second appears in the company of singers immediately following: "and Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang loud, with Jezrahiah their overseer" (Nehemiah 12:42).

Father of Azariah the Wall-Builder

In the Nehemianic register of those who repaired the wall, a Maaseiah is named in a three-generation line: "After them repaired Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah beside his own house" (Nehemiah 3:23).

Sealing the Covenant under Nehemiah

A Maaseiah seals the renewed covenant of Nehemiah 10. He is one of three lay heads in that line of signatories: "Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah" (Nehemiah 10:25).

A Judahite of the Shilonite Line

The post-exilic settlement list of Jerusalem includes a Maaseiah of long Judahite pedigree: "and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Colhozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of the Shilonite" (Nehemiah 11:5).

A Benjamite Ancestor

In the same register, on the Benjamite side, another Maaseiah surfaces in the genealogy of Sallu: "And these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah" (Nehemiah 11:7).

Father of the Priest Zephaniah in Jeremiah

A pre-exilic priest named Maaseiah is identified in Jeremiah only as the father of Zephaniah. Zedekiah's first embassy to Jeremiah names "Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest" (Jeremiah 21:1). The same Zephaniah is the addressee Shemaiah the Nehelamite tries to enlist against Jeremiah: Yahweh charges Shemaiah with sending letters "to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests" (Jeremiah 29:25). Zedekiah sends the same Zephaniah back to Jeremiah a second time: "Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now to Yahweh our God for us" (Jeremiah 37:3).

Father of the False Prophet Zedekiah

A different Maaseiah is the father of one of the lying prophets in Babylon condemned by Jeremiah's letter: "Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you⁺ in my name: Look, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he will slay them before your⁺ eyes" (Jeremiah 29:21).

Keeper of the Threshold

In the Rechabite scene a Maaseiah is named as a temple officer, "the keeper of the threshold." Jeremiah brings the Rechabites "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" (Jeremiah 35:4).

Mahseiah, Grandfather of Baruch and Seraiah

A name conventionally grouped with Maaseiah but spelled in UPDV as Mahseiah occurs twice in Jeremiah, in both cases as the grandfather of Neriah's sons. At the purchase of the field at Anathoth Jeremiah delivers "the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my cousin" (Jeremiah 32:12). The same line surfaces in the oracle against Babylon committed to Seraiah: "The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain" (Jeremiah 51:59).