Meremoth
Meremoth [1]
mer´ḗ - moth , me - rē´moth ( מרמות , merēmōth , "heights"; Μερειμώθ , Mereimṓth ):
(1) Son of Uriah ( Ezra 8:33 ), who was head of the 7th course of priests appointed by David ( 1 Chronicles 24:10 , Hakkoz = Koz; compare Nehemiah 3:4 , Nehemiah 3:21 ). The family of Koz were among those unable to prove their pedigree on the return from Babylon, and were therefore deposed as polluted ( Ezra 2:61 , Ezra 2:62 ). 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 ( Ezra 8:33 ), a function reserved for priests alone ( Ezra 8:24-28 ). He takes a double part in the reconstruction under Nehemiah, first as a builder of the wall of the city ( Nehemiah 3:4 ), then as a restorer of that part of the temple abutting on the house of Eliashib the priest ( Nehemiah 3:21 ); "Marmoth" in 1 Esdras 8:62.
(2) A member of the house of Bani, and, like so many of that house, among those who married and put away foreign wives ( Ezra 10:36 ). He seems to be named Carabasion (!) in the corresponding list of 1 Esdras 9:34.
(3) The name occurs in Nehemiah 10:5 among those who "seal the covenant" with Nehemiah ( Nehemiah 10:1 ). It may there be the name of an individual (in which case there were 4 of the name), or it may be a family name. Certainly a "Meremoth" came back under Zerubbabel 100 years before ( Nehemiah 12:3 ), and the signatory in question may be either a descendant of the same name or a family representative. The name recurs later in the same list ( Nehemiah 12:15 ) as "Meraioth" through a scribal error confusing the two Hebrew letters yōdh ( y ) and ḥōlem ( o ) for mem ( m ). A comparison of Nehemiah 12:1-3 and Nehemiah 12:12-15 shows clearly that it is the same person. Note that in Nehemiah 12:15 "Helkai" is the name of the contemporary leader.
(4) For Meremoth (1 Esdras 8:2 the King James Version). See Memeroth .
