Mattenai

The name Mattenai belongs to three post-exilic Israelites: two laymen who put away foreign wives in Ezra's reform, and a priest who served in the days of Joiakim.

Two Laymen Who Put Away Foreign Wives

In Ezra's roster of those who had married non-Israelite women and divorced them, the name appears in two different clans. Among the sons of Hashum: "Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei" (Ezr 10:33). And among the sons of Bani: "Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu," (Ezr 10:37). Two distinct men in two different families bear the same name in the same chapter.

A Priest in the Days of Joiakim

The third Mattenai is a priest of the next generation, named in Nehemiah's register of the priestly houses that returned with Zerubbabel and the heads who served under the high priest Joiakim: "and of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi;" (Neh 12:19). He represents the house of Joiarib in the line of priestly successors.