Pahath-Moab

Pahath-moab is the head of one of the large Judahite families that returned from the Babylonian captivity. The name appears in the post-exilic registers, in the list of those who had married foreign women, and in the wall-builders of Jerusalem.

A Family that Returned from the Captivity

The first census of the returning exiles registers a sizable contingent under this family head: "The sons of Pahath-moab, of the sons of Jeshua [and] Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve" (Ezr 2:6). Nehemiah's parallel register gives the figure with a small variation: "The sons of Pahath-moab, of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand and eight hundred [and] eighteen" (Ne 7:11).

In the Reform of Mixed Marriages

When Ezra acts on the report of intermarriage with the surrounding peoples, the family is named among those who had taken foreign wives: "And of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh" (Ezr 10:30).

In the Wall-Building

A representative of the family appears in Nehemiah's list of those who repaired the wall: "Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hasshub the son of Pahath-moab, repaired another portion, and the tower of the furnaces" (Ne 3:11).