ADAIAH (a-dā'ya, Heb. ‘ădhāyâh, Jehovah has adorned, or pleasing to Jehovah)

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ADAIAH ə dā’ yə (עֲדָ֖יָה, Yah [Jehovah] has adorned or pleasing to Yah). 1. A man of Bozkath, the father of Jedidah, who was the mother of Josiah (2 Kings 22:1).

2. A Levite of the family of Gershom, ancestor of Asaph, the temple singer (1 Chron 6:41). Called Iddo in 1 Chronicles 6:21.

3. The seventh of nine sons of Shimei listed among the Benjamites (1 Chron 8:21). Shimei (Shema in 1 Chron 8:13) was the fifth son of Elpaal, the second son of Shaaraim and Hushim. Relation to Benjamin not given.

4. A priest who returned to Jerusalem after the Exile, head of a family (1 Chron 9:12).

5. The father of Maaseiah, one of the commanders of a hundred men, who helped Jehoiada destroy Athaliah and enthrone Joash in Judah (2 Chron 23:1). Spelled עֲדָיָ֛הוּ, here only.

6. A son of Bani who married a foreign wife during the Exile but put her away during the reformation under Ezra (Ezra 10:29).

7. A son of Binnui (RSV) who also put away his wife (Ezra 10:39).

8. An ancestor of Maaseiah, a Judahite in Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s time whose lineage descended through Perez (Neh 11:5).

9. A priest most likely identified with number four above (Neh 11:12).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

a-da’-ya, a-di’-a (`adhayah, "Yahweh hath adorned"):

(1) Apparently the seventh of the nine sons of Shimei, who is apparently the same with Shema, who is the fifth of the sons of Elpaal, who is the second of the two sons of Shaharaim and Hushim (1Ch 8:21). Shaharaim and his descendants are listed with the descendants of Benjamin, though his relations to Benjamin are not stated.

(2) A Levite; ancestor to David’s singer Asaph, and a descendant of the fifth generation from Gershom (1Ch 6:41).

(3) The father of Maaseiah, who was one of the captains of hundreds associated with Jehoiada the priest in making Joash king (2Ch 23:1).

(4) A resident of Bozkath, and father of Jedidah the mother of King Josiah (2Ki 22:1).

(5) A descendant of Judah through Perez. His great-great-grandson Maaseiah resided in Jerusalem after Nehemiah had rehabilitated the city (Ne 11:5).

(6) One of the men of Israel, not a priest or Levite, but "of the sons of Bani," who promised Ezra that he would part with his foreign wife (Ezr 10:29).

(7) The same man or another, in a different group of the sons of Bani (Ezr 10:39).

(8) One of the priests of the latest Bible times, mentioned with a partial genealogy (Ne 11:12; 1Ch 9:12).

Willis J. Beecher