A false prophet, in the days of Jeremiah, whose history, though short, is so very striking and awful, that the Holy Ghost hath been pleased to appoint a whole chapter in the writings of Jeremiah to record it; as if the Lord the Spirit intended it to be frequently read in the church. Indeed, it cannot be read too often, and especially by all that minister in holy things. The chapter is the twenty - eighth of Jeremiah’s prophecy. I make no farther comment in this place upon it, unless it be to observe, that Hananiah’s name but illcorresponded to this character. The word signifies the grace or gift of the Lord, from Chen or Chanan, grace; and Jah, the Lord. Hanan - Jah.
Hananiah, 1
Hanani´ah (Jehovah’s goodness), a false prophet of Gibeon, who, by opposing his prophecies to those of Jeremiah, brought upon himself the terrible sentence, ’Thou shalt die this year because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord.’ He died accordingly (Jer 28:1, sq.), B.C. 596.
Hananiah, 2
Hananiah, 3
Hananiah, the person who was associated with Nehemiah’s brother Hanani in the charge of the gates of Jerusalem. The high eulogy is bestowed upon him, that ’he was a faithful man, and feared God above many’ (Neh 7:2) [HANANI, 2].
1. A false prophet of Gibeon, who for his impious hardihood was overtaken with speedy death, according to the word of God, Jer 28:15-17 .\par 2. The Hebrew name of Shadrach.\par 3. A pious and faithful officer under Nehemiah, Neh 7:2 .\par
Hanani’ah. (gift of God).
1. One of the fourteen sons of Heman, and chief of the sixteenth course of singers. 1Ch 25:4-5; 1Ch 25:23. (B.C. 1014).
2. A general in the army of King Uzziah. 2Ch 26:11.
3. Father of Zedekiah, in the reign of Jehoiakim. (B.C. Before 605).
4. Son of Azur, a Benjamite of Gibeon, and a false prophet in the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah. In the fourth year of his reign, B.C. 595, Hananiah withstood Jeremiah, the prophet, and publicly prophesied in the Temple that, within two years, Jeconiah and all his fellow captives with the vessels of the Lord’s house, should be brought back to Jerusalem. Jer 28:1.
Hananiah corroborated his prophecy by taking from off the neck of Jeremiah, the yoke which he wore by divine command, Jer 27:1, and breaking it. But Jeremiah was bidden to go tell Hananiah that, for the wooden yokes which he had broken, he should make yokes of iron, so firm was the dominion of Babylon destined to be for seventy years. The prophet Jeremiah added to this rebuke the prediction of Hananiah’s death, the fulfillment of which closes the history of this false prophet.
5. Grandfather of Irijah, the captain of the ward at the gate of Benjamin, who arrested Jeremiah on the charge of deserting to the Chaldeans. Jer 37:13. (B.C. Before 589).
6. Head of a Benjamite house. 1Ch 8:24.
7. The Hebrew name of Shadrach. He was of the house of David, according to Jewish tradition Dan 1:3; Dan 1:6-7; Dan 1:11; Dan 1:19; Dan 2:17.
8. Son of Zerubbabel, 1Ch 3:19, from whom Christ derived his descent. He is the same person who is, by St. Luke, called Joanna. (B.C. After 536).
9. One of the sons of Bebai, who returned with Ezra from Babylon. Ezr 10:28. (B.C. 459).
10. A priest, one of the makers of the sacred ointments and incense, who built a portion of the wall of Jerusalem, in the days of Nehemiah.
11. Head of the priestly course of Jeremiah, in the days of Joiakim. Neh 12:12. (B.C. 610).
12. Ruler of the palace at Jerusalem, under Nehemiah. The arrangements for guarding the gates of Jerusalem were intrusted to him with Hanan, the Tirshatha’s brother. Neh 7:2-3. (B.C. 446).
13. An Israelite. Neh 10:23.
1. One of the singer Heman’s 14 sons; chief of the 16th of the 24 courses into which the 288 Levite musicians were divided by king David; employed chiefly to "lift up the horn" (1Ch 25:4-5; 1Ch 25:23).
2. 2Ch 26:11.
3. Jer 36:12.
4. Son of Azur, the prophet of Gibeon, a priests’ city (Jeremiah 28). In the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign Hananiah, in opposition to Jeremiah, foretold that Jeconiah and the captives at Babylon would return with all the vessels of the Lord’s house within two years. This hope rested on Pharaoh Hophra (Apries). Judah already had designed a league with Edom, Ammon, Moab, Tyre, and Sidon against Babylon. Their ambassadors had therefore come to Jerusalem, but were sent back with yokes and a divine message from Jeremiah that their several masters must submit to Nebuchadnezzar’s yoke, to whom God had given these lands and the very beasts of the field, or else be punished with sword, famine, and pestilence (Jeremiah 27).
Hananiah broke off the yokes on Jeremiah’s neck, in token of God’s breaking off Nebuchadnezzar’s yoke. Compare 1Ki 22:11-24-25. Jeremiah said Amen, praying it might be so; but warned him that for the broken wooden yokes he should have iron yokes, adding "Hananiah, the Lord hath not sent thee, but thou makest this people trust in a lie ... therefore ... this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah died the same year in the 7th month." In Zedekiah’s 6th year the league with Pharaoh Hophra tempted Zedekiah to open revolt in violation of his oath to Nebuchadnezzar (Eze 17:12-20).
A temporary raising of the siege of Jerusalem, through the Egyptian ally, was soon followed by the return of the Chaldaean army, the capture of Jerusalem, and the blinding of Zedekiah and his removal to Babylon (Eze 37:5). Each claimant to inspiration, as Hananiah, must stand two tests: does his prophecy accord with past revelations of God’s word? does the event verify it? Hananiah failed in both. Moreover, he promised sinners peace and safety without repentance. Hananiah’s namesake in New Testament is a similar warning in stance of God’ s vengeance on the man "whosoever loveth and maketh a lie" (Acts 5); a foretaste of the final retribution (Rev 22:15).
5. Jer 37:13.
6. 1Ch 8:24.
7.
8. 1Ch 3:19. Identified by some with Joanna (the Jah or Jehovah being put at the beginning instead of at the end, as in Hanan-jah, "graciously given by Jehovah"), Luk 3:27.
9. Ezr 10:28.
10. Exo 30:22-28; 1Ch 9:30; Neh 3:8; Neh 3:30, compare New 12:41.
11. Neh 12:12.
12. Ruler of the palace (as Eliakim "over the house" of Hezekiah) along with Hanani, Nehemiah’s brother, at Jerusalem. Neh 7:2-3, "a faithful man who feared God above many."
13. Neh 10:23.
[Hanani’ah]
1. Son of Heman: appointed to the service of song. 1Ch 25:4; 1Ch 25:23.
2. A captain of king Uzziah’s army. 2Ch 26:11.
3. Father of Zedekiah a prince in the reign of Jehoiakim. Jer 36:12.
4. Son of Azur and the false prophet who withstood Jeremiah. He prophesied that God would break the yoke of the king of Babylon within two years. Jeremiah denounced his prophecy as a lie: he should die within a year, which took place in the seventh month. Jer. 28.
5. Father of Shelemiah and grandfather of Irijah. Jer 37:13.
6. Son of Shashak and a prince of the Benjamites. 1Ch 8:21.
7. The Hebrew name of SHADRACH, a companion of Daniel. Dan 1:6-19; Dan 2:17.
8. Son of Zerubbabel. 1Ch 3:19; 1Ch 3:21. This Hananiah is supposed to be the JOANNA of Luk 3:27 in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus.
9. One who had married a strange wife. Ezr 10:28.
10, 11. Two who repaired the wall of Jerusalem. Neh 3:8; Neh 3:30.
12. Ruler of the palace, who had charge over Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah: he is described as a faithful man who feared God above many. Neh 7:2.
13. One who sealed the covenant. Neh 10:23.
14. A priest of the family of Jeremiah. Neh 12:12.
15. Priest who assisted at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. Neh 12:41.
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By: Emil G. Hirsch, M. Seligsohn
1. A son of Heman the singer, and chief of the sixteenth of the twenty-four musical divisions into which the Levites were divided by King David (I Chron. xxv. 4, 23). 2. One of the captains of King Uzziah's army (II Chron. xxvi. 11). 3. Father of Zedekiah, one of the princes who sat in the house of King Jehoiakim (Jer. xxxvi. 12).
4. Son of Azur of Gibeon; a false prophet in the reign of Zedekiah (ib. xxviii. 1). He prophesied in the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign that two yearslater Jeconiah and all the captives of Judah, together with the vessels of the Lord's house which had been transported to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, would be brought back to Jerusalem. Hananiah thereupon took the yoke from Jeremiah's neck and broke it as a token that the yoke which had been imposed by Nebuchadnezzar on Israel would also soon be broken (ib. xxviii. 2-10). Jeremiah, however, was commanded by God to tell Hananiah to replace the wooden yoke by an iron one, as the yoke to be borne by the Israelites would be still stronger than the former one had been (ib. xxviii. 13-14). Jeremiah denounced Hananiah as a false prophet, and assured him that he would die that same year for having taught rebellion against the Lord. Hananiah died three months later (ib. xxviii. 17).
According to R. Joshua b. Levi (Yer. Sanh. xi. 7), Hananiah b. Azur was not a false prophet, but he used to repeat Jeremiah's prophecies in different places in Jerusalem, attributing them to himself. In the above-mentioned case where Hananiah seemed to contradict Jeremiah, it was by a miscalculation that he announced the restoration of Israel within two years. It is further said (ib.) that there is a discrepancy in the passage where Hananiah's death is recorded: "Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month" (Jer. xxviii. 17); for as, according to the Jewish reckoning, the seventh month was the first of the year, it could not be "in the same year." The Talmudists inferred that Hananiah died on the eve of New-Year's Day, after commanding his family to keep secret his death in order to prove Jeremiah mistaken.
5. Grandfather of Irijah, captain of the ward at the gate of Benjamin (Jer. xxxvii. 13). 6. Head of a Benjamite family (I Chron. viii. 24). 7. The companion of Daniel, Mishael, and Azariah. He was named "Shadrach" by Nebuchadnezzar, and together with Mishael and Azariah (Meshach and Abednego) was cast into the fire by command of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. i. 6, 7, 11, 19; ii. 17; iii. 12-23). See Azariah in Rabbinical Literature. 8. Son of Zerubbabel (I Chron. iii. 19). 9. Son of Bebai, who returned with Ezra from Babylon (Ezra x. 28). 10. One of the apothecaries who built a portion of the wall of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah (Neh. iii. 8). 11. One of the chiefs of priestly families in the days of Joiakim, the high priest (ib. xii. 12). 12. Ruler of the palace at Jerusalem under Nehemiah; "a faithful man" (Neh. vii. 2). 13. A signatory to the covenant in the time of Nehemiah (ib. x. 23).
HANANIAH (‘Jahweh has been gracious’).—1. One of the sons of Shashak, of the tribe of Benjamin (1Ch 8:24-25). 2. One of the sons of Heman, who could ‘prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals’ (1Ch 25:6), though their special function seems to have been the use of the horn (1Ch 25:1; 1Ch 25:4; 1Ch 25:6). 3. One of king Uzziah’s captains (2Ch 26:11). 4. The ‘lying prophet,’ son of Azzur the prophet, a Gibeonite, who was condemned by Jeremiah, in the reign of Zedekiah, for prophesying falsely. The prophecy of Hananiah was to the effect that king Jeconiah and the captives in Babylon would all return in two years’ time, bringing back with them the vessels of the Lord’s house which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away (cf. Dan 1:1-2). He expressed this in symbolic fashion by taking the ‘bar’ (cf. Jer 27:2) from Jeremiah’s neck and breaking it, with the words, ‘Thus saith the Lord: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon within two full years from off the neck of all the nations’ (Jer 28:11). In reply Jeremiah declares this prophecy to be false, and that because Hananiah has made the people to trust in a lie, he will die within the year. The words of Jeremiah come to pass: Hananiah dies in the seventh month (Jer 28:17). 5. Father of Zedekiah, one of the princes of Judah (Jer 36:12). 6. Grandfather of Irijah, who assisted Jeremiah (Jer 37:13). 7. A son of Zerubbabel (1Ch 3:19). 8. A priest, head of the house of Jeremiah, who returned with Nehemiah from Babylon (Neh 12:12). 9. Governor of ‘the castle,’ who, together with Hanani, was appointed by Nehemiah to the ‘charge over Jerusalem’ (Neh 7:2). 10. The friend of Daniel, who received the name Shadrach from the ‘prince of the eunuchs’ (Dan 1:7; Dan 1:11). Several others also bear this name, but they are not of importance (see Ezr 10:28, Neh 3:8; Neh 3:30; Neh 10:23; Neh 12:41; these are not necessarily all different people).
W. O. E. Oesterley.
(1) A Benjamite (1Ch 8:24).
(2) A captain of Uzziah’s army (2Ch 26:11).
(3) Father of one of the princes under Jehoiakim (Jer 36:12).
(4) One of the sons of Heman and leader of the 16th division of David’s musicians (1Ch 25:4, 1Ch 25:23).
(5) Grandfather of the officer of the guard which apprehended Jeremiah on a charge of desertion (Jer 37:13).
(6) A false prophet of Gibeon, son of Azzur, who opposed Jeremiah, predicting that the yoke of Babylon would be broken in two years, and that the king, the people and the vessels of the temple would be brought back to Jerusalem. Jeremiah would be glad if it should be so, nevertheless it would not be. The question then arose, Which is right, Jeremiah or Hananiah? Jeremiah claimed that he was right because he was in accordance with all the great prophets of the past who prophesied evil and their words came true. Therefore his words are more likely to be true. The prophet of good, however, must wait to have his prophecy fulfilled before he can be accredited. Hananiah took off the yoke from Jeremiah and broke it in pieces, symbolic of the breaking of the power of Babylon. Jeremiah was seemingly beaten, retired and received a message from Yahweh that the bar of wood would become a bar of iron, and that Hananiah would die during the year because he had spoken rebellion against Yahweh (Jer 28 passim).
(7) One of Daniel’s companions in Babylon whose name was changed to Shadrach (Dan 1:7, Dan 1:11, Dan 1:19).
(8) A son of Zerubbabel (1Ch 3:19, 1Ch 3:21).
(9) A Levite, one of the sons of Bebai, one of those who married foreign wives (Ezr 10:28; 1 Esdras 9:29).
(10) One of the perfumers (the King James Version “apothecaries”) who wrought in rebuilding the wall under Nehemiah (Neh 3:8).
(11) One who helped to repair the wall above the horse gate (Neh 3:30). This may be the same person as number 10.
(12) A governor of the castle, i.e. the
(13) One of those who sealed the covenant under Nehemiah (Neh 10:23); a Levite.
(14) A priest who was present at the dedication of the walls of Jerusalem (Neh 12:12, Neh 12:41).