Malchijah, Malchiah

MALCHIJAH, MALCHIAH măl kī ə (מַלְכִּיָּ֔ה, LXX Μελχ [ε, G1567] ια [ς], my king is Yah [the Lord]). A rather common Heb. theophoric name borne by numerous men of exilic and postexilic times who seem to be mostly priests or Levites and royalty. 1. In the Heb. text of Jeremiah 38:6 where the name is spelled Malkiyyāhu the man is called the king’s son, presumably Zedekiah’s son. He was owner of the cistern into which Jeremiah’s enemies cast him while Zedekiah pretended to be powerless to stop them (v. 5).

2. The name of the father of Pashhur, another nobleman who was among those persecuting the weeping prophet (Jer 21:1; 38:1). The same man is named in a list of priests (1 Chron 9:12). Here the RSV and ASV render the same Heb. as Malchijah instead of the usual Malchiah. A fuller genealogy of this family is given in Nehemiah 11:12.

3. In a list of priests who were assigned to their duties, one is called Malchijah (1 Chron 24:9).

4. In another list of priests who stood giving thanks with Nehemiah, one finds another Malchijah in the house of God (Neh 12:42).

5. A Malchijah was among the priests who set their seal to the covenant of spiritual renewal Nehemiah had written (Neh 10:3). Perhaps the same man stood beside Ezra while he read the law of Moses to the people (Neh 8:1-4).

6. A Levite whose name was Malchijah is given as ninth in the genealogy after Levi himself (1 Chron 6:40).

7. Among those who pledged themselves to put away their foreign wives there were two named Malchijah, one of the sons of Parosh (Ezra 10:25) and the other of the sons of Harim (cf. Neh 3:11).

8. Two men by this name made significant contributions to the task of repairing the wall under Nehemiah. Malchijah the son of Rechab repaired the Dung Gate (Neh 3:14), and a Malchijah the goldsmith repaired the area opposite the Muster Gate to “the upper chamber of the corner” (Neh 3:31).