Ezra 10:36 — Word Study
WLCוַנְיָ֥ה מְרֵמ֖וֹת אֶלְיָשִֽׁיב׃
BSAVaniahVanyâh△ [son of Bani] MeremothMᵉrêmôwth [the priest] EliashibʼElyâshîyb [God restores, the high priest]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וַנְיָ֥ה | Vaniah | Noun proper masculine |
| מְרֵמ֖וֹת | Meremoth | Noun proper masculine |
| אֶלְיָשִֽׁיב׃ | Eliashib | Noun proper masculine |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, |
| KJV | Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, |
| ASV | Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, |
| YLT | Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, |
| WEB | Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, |
| BBE | Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, |
All translations agree on the names listed in this verse.
The verse consists of a simple list of names, emphasizing the individuals involved in the return from exile.
2 commentators on this verse
Ellicott, Cambridge & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
1 of 3 occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament — a word chosen on purpose.
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 10:36
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 List of Returneesgenerated
Ezra 10:36 records names of individuals who returned from Babylonian exile, highlighting their roles and identities in the restoration of the community in Jerusalem. This list serves as a reminder of the people who contributed to rebuilding the nation after their return from captivity.
Cross References
The Key Word — אֶלְיָשִֽׁיב, 'el.ya.Shivgenerated
The name אֶלְיָשִֽׁיב (Eliashib) means 'God restores' and is derived from the elements for 'God' and 'to restore'. It indicates a divine action of restoration, significant for a high priest during the time of Nehemiah.
Eliashib is mentioned multiple times in the Old Testament, indicating his importance in the priestly lineage and temple service. His role as a high priest is crucial in the context of the return from exile, as he would have been involved in the spiritual restoration of the people.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
All translations on this page, including the Berean Standard Bible, KJV, and ASV, agree on the rendering of the names listed in this verse.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The structure of the verse is straightforward, with a noun phrase serving as the subject: וַנְיָ֥ה מְרֵמ֖וֹת אֶלְיָשִֽׁיב. This simple listing emphasizes the names of the individuals returning from exile.
The absence of verbs indicates that the focus is solely on the identification of the individuals, highlighting their significance in the context of the restoration.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint uses the Greek word ελιασιβ to translate אֶלְיָשִֽׁיב. This choice reflects a direct correspondence in meaning, maintaining the sense of restoration associated with the name.
The Greek version aligns closely with the Hebrew, indicating a consistent understanding of the identity and role of Eliashib within the restoration narrative.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Ezra 10:36 lists three men: Vaniah, Meremoth, and Eliashib. Vaniah is identified as a son of Bani, Meremoth as a priest, and Eliashib as a high priest whose name means 'God restores.' These men played a role in the return and restoration of the community in Jerusalem.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
These names represent individuals who returned from exile and contributed to the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the restoration of the Israelite community.
Eliashib's role as a high priest signifies his leadership in the spiritual restoration of the people after their return from Babylonian exile.
Vaniah means 'Jehovah is praise' and identifies him as a member of the Israelite community during the time of Ezra.
Meremoth was involved in the rebuilding efforts of Jerusalem's wall, indicating his significance in the restoration process during the return from exile.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What roles do you think these individuals played in the community after their return from exile?
- How can understanding the names and roles of these figures enhance your appreciation for the restoration of Israel?
- In what ways does the concept of restoration resonate with your own life experiences?
- How can you apply the lessons of rebuilding and restoration from this passage in your community today?
Commentators on this verse — 2 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Ezra 10:36 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
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
Tyndale line
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib;
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
Strictly literal
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
Vanyah, Meremoth, Elyashib,
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
From the Latin
Vania, Marimuth, and Eliasib,
Simplified
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
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, with all three names matched between the two texts. This consistency strengthens the reliability of the accounts of those who returned from exile.
וַנְיָ֥ה מְרֵמ֖וֹת אֶלְיָשִֽׁיב׃
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 10:36
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.
וַנְיָה (Vanyah) refers to a man mentioned in the context of the Exile and Return, specifically in Ezra 10:36. He is identified as one of the sons of Bani who took a foreign wife. The name may mean 'Jehovah is praise' and is possibly linked to another Hebrew word.
וַנְיָה n.pr.m. one of those with strange wives, Ezr 10:36
ref
H2057 וַנְיָה
2057 Vanyah van-yaw'
perhaps for 6043; Vanjah, an Israelite:--Vaniah.
see HEBREW for 06043
וַנְיָה (van.yah) — Vaniah.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, only mentioned at Ezr.10.36
§ Vaniah = "Jehovah is praise"
one of the sons of Bani, in the time of Ezra, who took a foreign wife
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
va-ni'-a (wanyah, meaning unknown): A son of Bani, who had married a foreign wife (Ezr 10:36). The text is, however, doubtful. The Septuagint Codex Vaticanus has Ouiechoa; Codex Sinaiticus Ouierecho; Codex Alexandrinus Ouounia, Lucian Ouania.
(Jehovah is praise), one of the sons of Bani, (Ezra 10:36) (B.C. 458.)
nourishment, or weapons, of the Lord
→ (An Israelite)
→ Puts away (divorces) his Gentile wife Ezr 10:36
מְרֵמוֹת (Meremoth) refers to a name meaning "elevations" and is associated with two priests during the time of the Exile and Return, as well as a returning exile. The entries note that Meremoth was involved in rebuilding Jerusalem's wall and served in the temple, with references found in Ezra and Nehemiah.
מְרֵמוֹת n.pr.m.
priest, time of Zerub.
priest, time of Ezra and Neh.
one of those who had taken strange wives
base
H4822 מְרֵמוֹת
4822 Mremowth mer-ay-mohth'
plural from 7311; heights; Meremoth, the name of two
Israelites:--Meremoth.
see HEBREW for 07311
מְרֵמוֹת (me.re.mot) — Meremoth.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Ezr.8.33;
son of: Uriah (H0223H); also called Meraioth at Neh.12.15;
Also named: me.ra.vot (מְרָיוֹת "Meraioth" H4812H)
§ Meremoth = "elevations"
1) a priest, son of Uriah of the family of Koz active in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem and in the 7th course of temple service in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah
2) a priest in the time of Zerubbabel
3) a returning exile of the family of Bani who had a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
מְרֵמוֹת (me.re.mot) — Meremoth.
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, only mentioned at Ezr.10.36
§ Meremoth = "elevations"
1) a priest, son of Uriah of the family of Koz active in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem and in the 7th course of temple service in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah
2) a priest in the time of Zerubbabel
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
mer'-e-moth, me-re'-moth (meremoth, "heights"; Mereimoth):
(1) Son of Uriah (Ezr 8:33), who was head of the 7th course of priests appointed by David (1Ch 24:10, Hakkoz = Koz; compare Ne 3:4,21). The family of Koz were among those unable to prove their pedigree on the return from Babylon, and were therefore deposed as polluted (Ezr 2:61,62). Meremoth's division of the family must, however, have been scatheless, for he is employed in the temple after the return as weigher of the gold and the vessels (Ezr 8:33), a function reserved for priests alone (Ezr 8:24-28). He takes…
(elevations), Son of Uriah or Urijah the priest, of the family of Koz or Hakkoz, the head of the seventh course of priests as established by David. In (Ezra 8:33) Meremoth is appointed to weigh and register the gold and silver vessels belonging to the temple. In the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem under Nehemiah we find Meremoth taking an active part. (Nehemiah 3:4) A layman of the sons of Bani, who had married a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:36) A priest, or more probably a family of priests, who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:5)
bitterness; myrrh of death
אֶלְיָשִׁיב (Elyashiyb) means "God will restore" and refers to several individuals in the Old Testament, particularly a priest during David's reign and a high priest in Nehemiah's time. The name is composed of elements meaning 'God' and 'to restore.' Eliashib is mentioned in contexts related to the priestly lineage and temple service.
אֶלְיָשִׁיב n.pr.m. (God restores)
a descendant of David
priest of David’s time
high priest of Nehemiah’s time
a singer
one of the line of Zattu
one of the line of Bani
base
H475 אֶלְיָשִׁיב
475 'Elyashiyb el-yaw-sheeb'
from 410 and 7725; God will restore; Eljashib, the name of
six Israelites:--Eliashib.
see HEBREW for 0410
see HEBREW for 07725
אֶלְיָשִׁיב (el.ya.shiv) — Eliashib.
A man of the tribe of Judah living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.3.24;
son of: Elioenai (H0454B);
brother of: Hodaviah (H1938), Pelaiah (H6411B), Akkub (H6126), Johanan (H3110I), Delaiah (H1806) and Anani (H6054)
§ Eliashib = "God restores"
1) a priest in David's reign
2) a descendant of David
3) a high priest in Nehemiah's time
4) a temple singer with foreign wife
5) one of the line of Zattu
6) one of the line of Bani
אֶלְיָשִׁיב (el.ya.shiv) — Eliashib.
A man living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.24.12
§ Eliashib = "God restores"
1) a priest in David's reign
2) a descendant of David
3) a high priest in Nehemiah's time
4) a temple singer with foreign wife
5) one of the line of Zattu
6) one of the line of Bani
אֶלְיָשִׁיב (el.ya.shiv) — Eliashib.
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
e-li'-a-shib ('elyashibh, "God restores"):
(1) A descendant of David (1Ch 3:24).
(2) Head of the eleventh course of priests (1Ch 24:12).
(3) The high priest in the time of Nehemiah. He, with his brethren the priests, helped in the rebuilding of the wall (Ne 3:1). But later he was "allied unto Tobiah" the Ammonite (Ne 13:4) and allowed that enemy of Nehemiah the use of a great chamber in the temple (Ne 13:5); and one of his grandsons, a son of Joiada, married a daughter of Sanballat the Horonite and was for this expelled from the community by Nehemiah (Ne 13:28).
Eliashib
Whom God will restore. (1.) A priest, head of one of the courses of the priests of the time of David (1 Chr. 24:12).
(2.) A high priest in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah (Neh. 12:22, 23). He rebuilt the eastern city wall (3:1), his own mansion being in that quarter, on the ridge Ophel (3:20, 21). His indulgence of Tobiah the Ammonite provoked the indignation of Nehemiah (13:4, 7).
(whom God restores). A priest in the time of King David eleventh in the order of the "governors" of the sanctuary. (1 Chronicles 24:12) One of the latest descendants of the royal family of Judah. (1 Chronicles 3:24) High priest at Jerusalem at the time of the rebuilding of the walls under Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 3:1,20,21) (B.C. 446.) A singer in the time of Ezra who had married a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:24) A son of Zattu, (Ezra 10:27) and A son of Bani, (Ezra 10:36) both of whom had transgressed in the same manner. (B.C. 458.)