Sallai

Two post-exilic men bear the name Sallai — one a Benjamite resettler in Jerusalem, the other a priestly head of a father-house. The priest's name surfaces in two slightly different spellings.

A Benjamite in Jerusalem

In Nehemiah's roster of those who took up residence in the rebuilt city, Sallai appears among the Benjamites: "And after him Gabbai, Sallai, nine hundred twenty and eight" (Ne 11:8). He stands in the count of the families that filled out the population of Jerusalem after the return from exile.

A priestly father-house

The same chapter that records the priests who came up with Zerubbabel and Jeshua names Sallai as one of them: "of Sallai, Kallai; of Amok, Eber" (Ne 12:20). The list pairs each priestly father-house with the head of that house in the next generation, and Sallai's house is represented by Kallai.

The earlier Jeshua-era roster gives the name in a different form. Among "the chiefs of the priests and of their brothers in the days of Jeshua" the list reads, "Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah" (Ne 12:7). The same priestly house stands behind both spellings — Sallu in the founding generation, Sallai in the next.