Ezra 10:32 — Word Study
WLCבְּנְיָמִ֥ן מַלּ֖וּךְ שְׁמַרְיָֽה׃ ס
BSABenjaminBinyâmîyn [son of the right hand] MalluchMallûwk [a priest who returned to Jerusalem] and ShemariahShᵉmaryâh [kept by Jehovah, protected by God]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| בְּנְיָמִ֥ן | Benjamin | Noun proper masculine |
| מַלּ֖וּךְ | Malluch | Noun proper masculine |
| שְׁמַרְיָֽה׃ ס | Shemariah | Noun proper masculine |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah. |
| KJV | Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah. |
| ASV | Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah. |
| YLT | Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah. |
| WEB | Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah. |
| BBE | Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah. |
All translations agree on the names mentioned in this verse.
The verse consists of a simple list of names without additional clauses or complexity.
2 commentators on this verse
Ellicott, 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 — Ezra 10:32
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 Return from Exilegenerated
Ezra 10:32 lists individuals who returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. This verse is part of a larger narrative detailing the restoration of the Jewish community and their leaders, highlighting the importance of these figures in re-establishing worship and society in Jerusalem.
Cross References
The Key Word — בְּנְיָמִן, be.ne.ya.Mingenerated
The name בְּנְיָמִן (be.ne.ya.Min) means 'son of the right hand.' It refers to Benjamin, the youngest son of Jacob, and the tribe that descended from him. The parsing as a noun proper masculine indicates its use as a name, specifically for a significant historical figure in Israel's lineage.
In this context, Benjamin represents not only an individual but also the tribe that played a crucial role in the history of Israel. The name carries connotations of favor and strength, as it is linked to the position of the right hand, often associated with power and authority.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
All translations agree on the names listed in this verse.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The structure of the verse is straightforward, consisting of a noun phrase that serves as the subject: בְּנְיָמִן מַלּוּךְ שְׁמַרְיָה. The simplicity of the sentence reflects the list format typical of genealogical or historical records in Hebrew scripture.
This clause presents three individuals in succession, emphasizing their collective identity as returning exiles. The lack of a verb indicates that the focus is on naming rather than action.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates בְּנְיָמִן as βενιαμιν, מַלּוּךְ as μαλουξ, and שְׁמַרְיָה as σαμαρια. This shows a direct correspondence in names, maintaining their identity across translations.
The choice of Greek terms reflects the Hebrew names without altering their meanings, indicating a consistent understanding of these figures in both traditions.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Ezra 10:32 lists three men: Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah. These individuals returned to Jerusalem after the exile and are significant figures in the restoration of the Jewish community.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
They were men who returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile, representing the tribe of Benjamin and playing roles in the restoration of Israel.
Benjamin means 'son of the right hand,' referring to Jacob's youngest son and the tribe that descended from him.
Malluch was a priest who returned with Zerubbabel and is mentioned in the context of the restoration of worship in Jerusalem.
Shemariah means 'kept by Jehovah,' indicating divine protection and significance among the returning exiles.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What can we learn from the lives of those who returned from exile about perseverance and faith?
- How do the names of these individuals reflect their roles in the community?
- In what ways can we honor the legacy of those who contributed to our faith traditions?
- How does understanding the historical context of these names enhance our reading of Ezra?
Commentators on this verse — 2 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Ezra 10:32 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(18-44) List of the transgressors. (19) They gave their hands.—The four members of the high priest’s family were peculiarly dealt with. They gave their distinct pledge, and offered each a special trespass offering. It is one among a multitude of similar tokens of authenticity in the history; and inventor would have given some reason for the peculiarity. (22) Pashur.—Comparing Ezra 2:36-39, we find that all the priestly families that returned with Zerub-babel were implicated in the national offence. (25) Of Israel.—Of the laity eighty-six are mentioned, belonging to ten races which returned with Zerubbabel. (34) Bani.—Probably this should be some other name, as Bani occurs before. The…
Read Charles John Ellicott on Ezra 10 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges18–44. The List of those who ‘had married strange women’The record of the names was probably one of the documents officially preserved. The publicity of such a list was in itself a punishment to the offenders and a warning to others. As in chap. 2, the list falls into the three groups of Priests, Levites, and Israel (or Laity), i.e. 17 Priests, 10 Levites, 86 ‘of Israel’—113 in all.
Read Cambridge on Ezra 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
Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.
Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.
Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.
Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.
Tyndale line
Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.
Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.
Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.
Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.
Beniamin, Malluch, Shamariah.
Strictly literal
Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.
Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.
Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.
Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemaryah.
Benjamin, Malluk, and Shemariah.
From the Latin
Benjamin, Maloch, Samarias.
Simplified
Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.
Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.
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. All three names are matched, confirming the consistency of the text across these ancient witnesses.
בְּנְיָמִ֥ן מַלּ֖וּךְ שְׁמַרְיָֽה׃ ס
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 Ezra 10:32
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.
The Hebrew word בִּנְיָמִין (i.e., *Binyamiyn*) means 'son of the right hand.' It refers primarily to Benjamin, the youngest son of Jacob and Rachel, as well as to the tribe descended from him. The entries also mention a son of Bilhan and several individuals from the time of Ezra. Notably, the name is associated with various contexts in the Old Testament.
בִּנְיָמִין n.pr.m. 166 (son of (the) right hand)—
youngest son of Jacob, so called by him, but Rachel, the mother, who died at Benjamin's birth, called בֶּן־אוֹנִ֑י (q.v.)
son of Bilhan and great-grandson of Benjamin
a Jew of Ezra's time
base
H1144 בִּנְיָמִין . youngest son of Jacob, so called by him, but Rachel, the mother, who died at Benjamin's birth, called בֶּן־אוֹנִ֑י (q.v.)
. son of Bilhan and great-grandson of Benjamin
. a Jew of Ezra's time
1144 Binyamiyn bin-yaw-mene'
from 1121 and 3225; son of (the) right hand; Binjamin,
youngest son of Jacob; also the tribe descended from him, and
its territory:--Benjamin.
see HEBREW for 01121
see HEBREW for 03225
בִּנְיָמִין (bin.ya.min) — Benjamin.
A man of the tribe of Benjamin living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.35.18;
son of: Israel (H3478) and Rachel (H7354);
brother of: Joseph (H3130);
half-brother of: Reuben (H7205), Simeon (H8095), Levi (H3878), Judah (H3063), Dan (H1835H), Naphtali (H5321), Gad (H1410), Asher (H0836), Issachar (H3485), Zebulun (H2074) and Dinah (H1783);
father of: Bela (H1106A), Becher (H1071), Ashbel (H0788), Gera (H1617), Naaman (H5283), Ehi (H0278), Rosh (H7220), Muppim (H4649), Huppim (H2650H), Ard (H0714), Ahiram (H0297) and Jediael (H3043); also called Jamin at 1Sa.9.1,4; 22.7; 1x
§ Benjamin = "son of the right hand"
1) Jacob's and Rachel's youngest son, Joseph's full brother
2) son of Bilhan, great-grandson of Benjamin
3) a Benjamite, one of the sons of Harim, in the time of Ezra who had taken a strange wife
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
ben'-ja-min (binyamin, or binyamin; Beniaein, Beniamin):
1. The Patriarch:
The youngest of Jacob's sons. His mother Rachel died in giving him birth. As she felt death approaching she called him Benoni, "son of my sorrow." Fearing, probably, that this might bode evil for the child--for names have always preserved a peculiar significance in the East--Jacob called him Benjamin, "son of the fight hand" (Ge 35:17 ff). He alone of Jacob's sons was born in Palestine, between Bethel and Ephrath. Later in the chapter, in the general enumeration of the children born in Paddan-ar am, the writer fails to except Benjamin (Ge 35:24). Joseph was his full brother. In the history where Benjamin appears as an object of solicitude to his father and brothers, we must not forget that he was already a…
Benjamin
Son of my right hand. (1.) The younger son of Jacob by Rachel (Gen. 35:18). His birth took place at Ephrath, on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, at a short distance from the latter place. His mother died in giving him birth, and with her last breath named him Ben-oni, son of my pain, a name which was changed by his father into Benjamin. His posterity are called Benjamites (Gen. 49:27; Deut. 33:12; Josh. 18:21).
The tribe of Benjamin at the Exodus was the smallest but one (Num. 1:36, 37; Ps. 68:27). During the march its place was along with Manasseh…
(son of the right hand, fortunate). The youngest of the children of Jacob. His birth took place on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, near the latter, B.C. 1729. His mother, Rachel, died in the act of giving him birth, naming him with her last breath Ben-oni (son of my sorrow). This was by Jacob changed into Benjamin. (Genesis 35:16,18) Until the journeys of Jacob’s sons and Jacob himself into Egypt we hear nothing of Benjamin. Nothing personal is known of him. Henceforward the history of Benjamin is the history of the tribe. A man of the tribe of Benjamin, son of bilhan, and the head of a family of warriors. (1 Chronicles 7:10) One of the "sons of Harim," an Israelite in the time of Ezra who had married a foreign wife. (Ezra…
The youngest son of Jacob and Rachel, Ge 35:16-18. Rachel died immediately after he was born, and with her last breath named him Ben-oni, the son of my sorrow; but Jacob called him Benjamin, son of my right hand. He was a great comfort to his father, who saw in him the beloved wife he had buried, and Joseph whose loss he mourned. He could hardly be persuaded to let him go with his brethren to Egypt, Ge 42:38. The tribe of Benjamin was small at first and was almost exterminated in the days of the Judges, Jud 20:1-48, but afterwards greatly increased, 2Ch 14:8 17:17. It was valiant, Ge 49:27, and "beloved of the Lord,"…
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.
N-proper — 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
שְׁמַרְיָ֫הוּ (Shmaryah) means "Jah has guarded" and refers to several individuals in the Old Testament. These include a Benjamite warrior who supported David, a son of King Rehoboam, and two Israelites mentioned during the time of Ezra who had foreign wives. The entries consistently highlight the name's meaning and its association with notable figures.
שְׁמַרְיָ֫ה(וּ) n.pr.m. (י׳ has kept, preserved)
a hero of David
son of Rehoboam
contemporaries of Ezra
base
H8114 שְׁמַרְיָ֫ה(וּ), שְׁמַרְיָה, שְׁמַרְיָהוּ
8114 Shmaryah shem-ar-yaw'
or Shmaryahuw {shem-ar-yaw'-hoo}; from 8104 and 3050; Jah has
guarded; Shemarjah, the name of four Israelites:--Shamariah,
Shemariah.
see HEBREW for 08104
see HEBREW for 03050
שְׁמַרְיָ֫הוּ (she.mar.yah) — Shemariah.
A man living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.12.5
§ Shemariah = "kept by Jehovah"
1) a Benjamite, one of David's mighty warriors who joined him at Ziklag
2) a son of king Rehoboam of Judah
3) an Israelite of the sons of Harim who had a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
4) an Israelite of the sons of Bani who had a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
שְׁמַרְיָ֫הוּ (she.mar.yah) — Shemariah.
A man of the tribe of Judah living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 2Ch.11.19;
son of: Rehoboam (H7346) and Mahalath (H4258H);
brother of: Jeush (H3266K) and Zaham (H2093);
half-brother of: Abijah (H0029I), Attai (H6262I), Ziza (H2124H) and Shelomith (H8019G)
§ Shemariah = "kept by Jehovah"
1) a Benjamite, one of David's mighty warriors who joined him at Ziklag
2) a son of king Rehoboam of Judah
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
shem-a-ri'-a, she-mar'-ya (shemaryah and shemaryahu, "whom Jahveh guards"):
(1) A Benjamite warrior who joined David at Ziklag (1Ch 12:5, Codex Vaticanus Sammaraia; Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus Samaria; Lucian, Samarias).
(2) A son of Rehoboam (2Ch 11:19).
(3) One of the sons of Harim who had married foreign wives (Ezr 10:32, Codex Vaticanus Samareia, Lucian, Samarias; Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus Semaria).
(4) One of the sons of Bani who had married foreign wives (Ezr 10:41, Codex Alexandrinus Samareias; Codex Vaticanus Samareia; Lucian, Samarias).
Horace J. Wolf
Shemariah
Whom Jehovah guards. (1.) One who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chr. 12:5).
(2.) Ezra 10:32, 41.
(kept by Jehovah). A Benjamite warrior who came to David at Ziklag. (1 Chronicles 12:5) (B.C. 1054.) One of the family of Harim, a lay man of Israel who put away his foreign wife in the time of Ezra. (Ezra 10:32) (B.C. 658.) Another who did the same. (Ezra 10:41)
God is my guard