Lexical Definition

‎חֲבַיָּה‎ Chăbayâh (khab-ah-yaw') Habaiah ^N:N-M-P
or חֲבָיָה Chăbâyâh (khab-aw-yaw'); from ‎חָבָה‎ and ‎יָהּ‎; Jah has hidden

Habaiah.

• § Habaiah = "Jehovah has hidden"
• Chabajah, an Israelite

1) head of a priestly family who returned from exile with Zerubbabel

Extended Information

• A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Ezr.2.61 also called Hobaiah at Neh.7.63

Brown-Driver-Briggs

‎חֲבָיָה‎ proper name, masculine head of a priestly family Ezra 2:61 = Neh 7:63 (van d. H. Ezra ‎חֲבַיָּה‎; Nehemiah ‎חֳבָיָה‎, margin ‎חֳבַיָה‎; compare Baer's note on Ezra 2:61 ᵐ5 Ezra Λαβεια, ᵐ5^L Ωδουια, A Οβαια, ᵐ5 Nehemiah Εβεια, ᵐ5^L Αβια, ‎א‎ Αβεια). ‎חֲבַיָּה‎, ‎חֳבָיָה‎ see foregoing.‎יְחֻבָּה‎ see ‎חֻבָּה‎ below ‎חבב‎.

Brown-Driver-Briggs References

Profile

Male • Returned priest • A priest whose descendants were unable to prove their lineage.

Man living at the time of Exile and Return

Habaiah was a priest whose descendants were excluded from the priesthood due to insufficient genealogical records.

• A priest living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Ezr.2.61;
• referred to as Habaiah or Hobaiah (KJV= Habaiah) חֲבַיָּה.

Habaiah is mentioned in Ezra 2:61 and Nehemiah 7:63 as one of the priests who returned from the Babylonian exile to Jerusalem. However, when the genealogies of the priests were examined, the descendants of Habaiah were unable to prove their priestly lineage. As a result, they were considered unclean and were excluded from serving as priests. The governor ordered them not to eat from the most holy things until a priest with the Urim and Thummim could resolve the matter. The Urim and Thummim were sacred objects used to determine the will of God. The fact that the descendants of Habaiah could not provide clear genealogical records suggests that their priestly lineage may have been lost or compromised during the exile.

All entries for Habaiah, Hobaiah: חֲבַיָּה