Lexical Definition

‎פְּתַחְיָה‎ Pᵉthachyâh (peth-akh-yaw') Pethahiah ^N:N-M-P
from ‎פָּתַח‎ and ‎יָהּ‎; Jah has opened

Pethakiah.

• § Pethahiah = "freed by Jehovah"
• Pethachjah, the name of four Israelites

1) a priest, in charge of the 19th course, in the time of David
2) a Levite and returning exile who had married a foreign wife; probably the same as 3
3) a Levite who helped lead in the confession of the people in the time of Ezra; probably the same as 2
4) son of Meshezabeel, descendant of Zerah the son of Judah; deputy of the king in all matters concerning the people

Extended Information

• A man living at the time of Exile and Return, only mentioned at Ezr.10.23

Brown-Driver-Briggs

Aramaic form: עֶשֶׂב
‎פְּתַחְיָה‎ proper name, masculine

1. priest 1Chr 24:16, Εζεκηλ, φεθεια etc.

2. Levite Ezra 10:23; Neh 9:5, φαθαια, φεθεια (ς) etc.

3. Judahite Neh 11:24, Παθαια φαθαια.

Brown-Driver-Briggs References

Profile

Male • Returned divorcee • Levite who married a foreign woman

Man living at the time of Exile and Return

Pethahiah, a Levite who married a foreign woman during the time of Ezra.

• A man living at the time of Exile and Return, only mentioned at Ezr.10.23;
• only referred to as Pethahiah פְּתַחְיָה.

Pethahiah was a Levite who had married a foreign woman, according to Ezra 10:23. After the Babylonian exile, Ezra led a religious reform that required the Israelites to separate from their foreign wives to maintain the purity of the Jewish faith and lineage. Pethahiah was among the Levites who had taken foreign wives and agreed to put them away as part of this reform. This event demonstrates the importance of religious and ethnic identity in the post-exilic Jewish community.

All entries for Pethahiah: פְּתַחְיָה