Meremoth

Meremoth is a name borne by three different post-exilic figures. The most prominent is a priest of the house of Hakkoz who weighs in the temple treasures Ezra brings from Babylon and afterward takes a leading part in Nehemiah's wall repairs. A second Meremoth appears among the laymen of the sons of Bani who put away foreign wives in Ezra's reform, and a third stands among the priests who sealed the covenant under Nehemiah and went up earlier with Zerubbabel.

Meremoth Son of Uriah, Priest of the House of Hakkoz

When the silver, gold, and sacred vessels Ezra has carried up from Babylon arrive at Jerusalem, they are formally received and weighed in the temple. The verse names the priest in whose hand the audit is registered: "And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest (and with him Eleazar the son of Phinehas: and with them Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levites)--" (Ezr 8:33). Meremoth is named first, paired with a second priest and two Levites, marking him as the responsible officer for the transfer.

The same Meremoth reappears in Nehemiah's roster of wall builders, this time identified by the further patronymic of his priestly house: "And next to them repaired Meremoth the son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz" (Ne 3:4). He takes a second stretch later in the same chapter, immediately adjoining the residence of the high priest: "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" (Ne 3:21). The double assignment, framed by his paternal and clan names, distinguishes him from the other Meremoths and locates his work at the heart of the rebuilt city.

Meremoth Among the Sons of Bani

In the closing register of Ezra's reform, in the lay-Israelite section that follows the priestly, Levitical, and singer lists, Meremoth appears as one of the men who had taken foreign wives and now put them away. He is given without patronymic in a bare three-name line: "Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib," (Ezr 10:36). The setting alone identifies him as a layman rather than as the priest of Ezr 8:33, and the absence of the "son of Uriah" formula keeps the two figures distinct.

Meremoth Among the Priests Under Nehemiah

A priest named Meremoth stands in the list of those who sealed the covenant Nehemiah drew up. He is named without further description among the priests who follow the governor at the head of the document: "Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah," (Ne 10:5). The same priestly name reappears in the parallel register of those who had returned earlier with Zerubbabel and Jeshua, again set among the heads of priestly houses: "Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth," (Ne 12:3). Whether this Meremoth is the priest of the house of Hakkoz under a second listing or a separate priestly bearer of the name, the post-exilic priesthood plainly knew more than one Meremoth.