Nehemiah 10:4 — Word Study
WLCחַטּ֥וּשׁ שְׁבַנְיָ֖ה מַלּֽוּךְ׃
BSAPashhurPashchûwr AmariahʼĂmaryâh MalchiahMalkîyâh
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| חַטּ֥וּשׁ | Hattush | Noun proper masculine |
| שְׁבַנְיָ֖ה | Shebaniah | Noun proper masculine |
| מַלּֽוּךְ׃ | Malluch | Noun proper masculine |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, |
| KJV | Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, |
| ASV | Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, |
| YLT | Huttush, Shebaniah, Malluch, |
| WEB | Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, |
| BBE | Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, |
There are no significant differences in how the translations present the names in this verse.
The sentence is a straightforward list of names, emphasizing the collective identity of the individuals mentioned.
2 commentators on this verse
Jamieson, Cambridge & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Nehemiah 10:4
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — The Covenant Communitygenerated
Nehemiah 10:4 lists individuals who were part of the covenant community that returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. This verse highlights the names of those who took part in the restoration efforts, emphasizing their roles in rebuilding the city and re-establishing the community's identity and worship.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nehemiah 3:10 | next to him, Jedaiah son of Harumaph made repairs across from his house; and next to him, Hattush son of Hashabneiah made repairs. |
| 2 | Nehemiah 12:14 | of Malluchi, Jonathan; of Shebaniah, Joseph; |
| 3 | Nehemiah 12:2 | Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 3 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — חַטּ֥וּשׁ, cha.Tushgenerated
The name חַטּ֥וּשׁ (Chattush) is a proper noun referring to individuals from the Davidic line, particularly during the post-exilic period. It means 'assembled' and is associated with a builder of Jerusalem's walls in the time of Nehemiah.
Hattush appears five times in the Hebrew Bible, indicating its significance among the Israelites. The name reflects a common practice of naming children after traits or roles within the community.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, so the BSB is the wording every comparison below is made against.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The structure is straightforward, consisting of a noun phrase that lists the names of three individuals. The names are presented in a simple series, emphasizing their collective importance in the context of the returning exiles.
The syntax tree indicates that the main clause is a list of proper nouns functioning as the subject, which is typical in Hebrew for conveying important names or titles.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates חַטּ֥וּשׁ as φασουρ, which does not carry the same connotation of 'assembled' but maintains the identity of the individual. This choice reflects a translational approach that prioritizes phonetic similarity over semantic meaning.
The other names are similarly rendered, indicating a consistent effort to preserve the identities of these figures while adapting to the Greek language.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Nehemiah 10:4 lists three men: Hattush, Shebaniah, and Malluch. These individuals were part of the group that returned to Jerusalem after the exile and played roles in the rebuilding of the community.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
They were individuals who returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile and played significant roles in the restoration of the community.
The name Hattush means 'assembled' and is associated with builders of Jerusalem's walls.
Shebaniah was a Levite and priest who sealed a covenant with Nehemiah.
Malluch means 'counsellor' and refers to a priest who returned with Zerubbabel.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What can we learn from the roles of these individuals in the restoration of Jerusalem?
- How do the meanings of their names reflect their contributions to the community?
- In what ways can we apply the lessons of community rebuilding in our own lives?
- How does understanding the history of these names enhance our reading of Nehemiah?
Commentators on this verse — 2 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Nehemiah 10:4 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentarySeraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, No JFB commentary on these verses.
Read Robert Jamieson on Nehemiah 10 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges3–8, Priests: 9–13, Levites: 14–28, Chiefs of the peopleThe 21 names here given are those of the priestly houses. The list of Neh 12:1-3 agrees with it in 16 names. The number 21 is peculiar; in chap. 12 the number is larger by one. In Ezra 2, Nehemiah 7, only four priestly houses are recorded, viz. Jedaiah, Immer, Pashur and Harim, as having returned with Zerubbabel. Pashur is mentioned in Nehemiah 10:3; Harim in Nehemiah 10:5. The other priestly families had either developed themselves out of these first four, or had arrived from time to time from Babylon. That 21 and not 24 are recorded, is noteworthy. Various conjectures have been hazarded, e.g. that names have dropped out from the…
Read Cambridge on Nehemiah 10 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Tyndale line
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch;
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Strictly literal
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Huttush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Huttush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
(10:5) Chattush, Shebanyah, Malluch,
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluk,
From the Latin
Hattus, Sebenia, Melluch,
Simplified
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text and the Septuagint agree on the names listed in this verse. The Septuagint provides a direct correspondence for each Hebrew name, maintaining their significance in the context of the returning community.
חַטּ֥וּשׁ שְׁבַנְיָ֖ה מַלּֽוּךְ׃
3 of the 3 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Nehemiah 10:4
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
חַטּוּשׁ (Chattuwsh) refers to a name associated with several individuals from the Davidic line, particularly during the post-exilic period. The entries indicate that Hattush is noted as a builder of Jerusalem's walls and a descendant of Shechaniah, with mentions in 1 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. The name is understood to mean "assembled."
חַטּוּשׁ n.pr.m.
man of Davidic line, post-exil.
a builder at the wall of Jerus.
head of a priestly house, post-exil.
base
H2407 חַטּוּשׁ
2407 Chattuwsh khat-toosh'
from an unused root of uncertain signification; Chattush, the
name of four or five Israelites:--Hattush.
חַטּוּשׁ (chat.tush) — Hattush.
A man of the tribe of Judah living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.3.22;
son of: Shemaiah (H8098B);
brother of: Igal (H3008I), Bariah (H1282), Neariah (H5294) and Shaphat (H8202I)
§ Hattush = "assembled"
1) a descendant of David, apparently one of the sons of Shechaniah, in the 4th or 5th generation from Zerubbabel
1a) a man who returned with Ezra; maybe same as 1 above
1b) a man who returned with Zerubbabel; maybe same as 1 above
2) son of Hashabniah who helped repair the walls of Jerusalem with Nehemiah
חַטּוּשׁ (chat.tush) — Hattush.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, only mentioned at Ezr.8.2
§ Hattush = "assembled"
1) a descendant of David, apparently one of the sons of Shechaniah, in the 4th or 5th generation from Zerubbabel
1a) a man who returned with Ezra; maybe same as 1 above
HNpm — Noun proper masculineHNpm
hat'-ush (chaTTush):
(1) Son of Shemaiah, a descendant of the kings of Judah, in the 5th generation from Zerubbabel (1Ch 3:22). He returned with Zerubbabel and Ezra from Babylon to Jerusalem (Ezr 8:2; Ne 12:2). (There is some doubt as to whether the Hatrush of the lineage of David and the priest of the same name, mentioned in Ne 10:4 and 12:2, are one and the same.) He was one of those who signed the covenant with Nehemiah (Ne 10:4).
(2) Son of Hashabneiah; aided Nehemiah to repair the walls of Jerusalem (Ne 3:10).
Horace J. Wolf
Hattush
Assembled. (1.) A priest who returned with Zerubbabel (Neh. 12:2). (2.) Ezra 8:2. (3.) Neh. 3:10. (4.) Neh. 10:4. (5.) 1 Chr. 3:22.
forsaking sin
שְׁבַנְיָה (Shbanyah) means "increased by Jehovah" and refers to several individuals in the Old Testament, particularly Levites and priests associated with the covenant in Nehemiah's time. The name is derived from roots meaning to grow or prosper, specifically linked to the divine name Jah. It appears in contexts related to the Divided Monarchy and the Exile and Return periods.
שְׁבַנְיָה(וּ) n.pr.m.
יָה:
Levites
priest
יָהוּ, priest
base
H7645 שְׁבַנְיָה(וּ), שְׁבַנְיָה, שְׁבַנְיָהוּ
7645 Shbanyah sheb-an-yaw'
or Shbanyahuw {sheb-an-yaw'-hoo}; from the same as 7644 and
3050; Jah has grown (i.e. prospered); Shebanjah, the name of
three or four Israelites:--Shebaniah.
see HEBREW for 07644
see HEBREW for 03050
שְׁבַנְיָהוּ (she.van.yah) — Shebaniah.
A man living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.15.24
§ Shebaniah = "increased by Jehovah"
1) a Levite who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah
2) a priest who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah
3) a 2nd Levite who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah
4) a priest appointed by David to blow with the trumpets before the ark of God
שְׁבַנְיָהוּ (she.van.yah) — Shebaniah.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Neh.9.4
§ Shebaniah = "increased by Jehovah"
1) a Levite who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah
2) a priest who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah
3) a 2nd Levite who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah
4) a priest appointed by David to blow with the trumpets before the ark of God
שְׁבַנְיָהוּ (she.van.yah) — Shebaniah.
HNpm — Noun proper masculineHNpm
Shebaniah
Whom Jehovah hides, or has made grow up. (1.) A Levite appointed to blow the trumpet before the ark of God (1 Chr. 15:24).
(2.) Another Levite (Neh. 9:4, 5).
(3.) A priest (Neh. 10:12).
(4.) A Levite (Neh. 10:4).
(increased by Jehovah). A Levite in the time of Ezra. (Nehemiah 9:4,5) He sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:10) (B.C. 459.) A priest or priestly family who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:4; 12:14) Called SHECHANIAH, SHECHANIAH in (Nehemiah 12:3) Another Levite who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:12) One of the priests appointed by David to blow with the trumpets before the ark of God. (1 Chronicles 15:24) (B.C. 1043.)
the Lord that converts, or recalls from captivity
מַלּוּךְ (mallukh) refers to a name associated with several individuals, particularly Levites and priests during the Exile and Return periods. The entries highlight various figures named Malluch or Melicu, often translated as 'counsellor,' who played roles in signing covenants and returning from exile, with references found in Nehemiah and Ezra.
ref
H4409a מַלּוּךְ . Levites
. various men
H4409b מלוכי Kt, מלִיכוּ Qr a priest
4409 Malluwk mal-luke'
or Malluwkiy (Neh. 12:14) {mal-loo-kee'}; from 4427; remnant;
Malluk, the name of five Israelites:--Malluch, Melichu (from
the margin).
see HEBREW for 04427
מַלּוּךְ (mal.lukh) — Malluch.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, only mentioned at Neh.10.27
§ Malluch or Melicu = "counsellor"
1) a Merarite Levite, son of Hashabiah
2) a descendant of Bani who had a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
3) a descendant of Harim who had a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
4) a priest who signed the covenant with Nehemiah
5) one of the leaders of the people who signed the covenant with Nehemiah
מְלִיכוּ (me.li.khu) — Mallichi.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Neh.10.4; also called Mallichi (Qere, KJV: Melicu; NIV: Malluk) at Neh.12.14;
Another spelling of mal.lukh (מַלּוּךְ "Malluch" H4409J)
§ Malluch or Melicu = "counsellor"
a priest who returned from exile with Zerubbabel
מַלּוּךְ (mal.lukh) — Malluch.
HNpm — Noun proper masculineHNpm
mal'-uk (mallukh, "counsellor"):
(1) A Levite of the sons of Merari, ancestor of Ethan the singer (1Ch 6:44; compare 6:29).
(2) Son of Bani, among those who had foreign wives (Ezr 10:29). He is a descendant of Judah (1Ch 9:4) and is the Mamuchus of 1 Esdras 9:30.
(3) A descendant of Harim, who married a foreign wife (Ezr 10:32).
Malluch
Reigned over, or reigning. (1.) A Levite of the family of Merari (1 Chr. 6:44).
(2.) A priest who returned from Babylon (Neh. 12:2).
(3.) Ezra 10:29. (4.) Ezra 10:32
(counsellor). A Levite of the family of Merari, and ancestor of Ethan the singer (1 Chronicles 6:44) One of the sons of Bani. (Ezra 10:29) and One of the descendants of Harim, (Ezra 10:32) who had married foreign wives. A priest or family of priests. (Nehemiah 10:4) and One of the heads of the people who signed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:27) One of the families of priests who returned with Zerubbabel, (Nehemiah 12:2) probably the same as No. 4.
reigning; counseling