Lexical Definition

‎מַתְּנַי‎ Mattᵉnay (mat-ten-ah'ee) Mattenai ^N:N-M-P
from ‎מַתָּן‎; liberal

Mattenai.

• § Mattenai = "gift of Jehovah"
• Mattenai, the name of three Israelites

1) a priest, son of Joiarib, in the time of Joiakim
2) an Israelite who had and put away his foreign wife in the time of Ezra
3) another Israelite who had and put away his foreign wife in the time of Ezra

Extended Information

• A man living at the time of Exile and Return, only mentioned at Ezr.10.33

Brown-Driver-Briggs

‎מַתְּנַי‎ proper name, masculine (abbreviated from foregoing); — ᵐ5 Μαθ(θ)ανια, Μαθθαναι; —

1. a priest Neh 12:19.

2. name of two who took strange wives:
a. Ezra 10:33.
b. vEzra 10:37.

Brown-Driver-Briggs References

Profile

Male • Returned from exile • Descendant of Hashum, who divorced his foreign wife.

Man living at the time of Exile and Return

Mattenai, a descendant of Hashum, divorced his foreign wife during Ezra's reforms (Ezr.10.33).

• A man living at the time of Exile and Return, only mentioned at Ezr.10.33;
• only referred to as Mattenai מַתְּנַי.

Mattenai was a man from the family of Hashum who had married a foreign woman during the time of Ezra. As part of Ezra's reforms to purify the Jewish community after their return from Babylonian exile, Mattenai and others who had married foreign wives were required to divorce them (Ezra 10:33). This action was taken to ensure that the Israelites remained faithful to the Lord and did not fall into the same sins that had led to their exile.

All entries for Mattenai: מַתְּנַי