Difference between revisions of "Nethinim"

<p> ("given".) &nbsp;Nehemiah 11:21; &nbsp;Ezra 2:43; &nbsp;Ezra 7:24; &nbsp;Ezra 8:17; &nbsp;Ezra 8:20; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 9:2. [[Servants]] of the temple ''(Josephus Uses Of Them The Name Given To The [[Slaves]] Attached To The Greek Temples, '' '''''Hiero Douloi''''' '', Ant. 11:5, [[Section]] 1)'' . So the Levites were "given" ( '''''Nethunim''''' ) unto [[Jehovah]] instead of the firstborn, and by Jehovah "given" to Aaron (see &nbsp;Numbers 3:9; &nbsp;Numbers 8:16-19). (See [[Levites]] .) Nethinim occurs only in the later books: Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. To the Levites 320 of the [[Midianite]] captives were given, and 32 to the priests ( &nbsp;Numbers 31:40; &nbsp;Numbers 31:42; &nbsp;Numbers 31:47). To these slaves doubtless the Levites and priests assigned the more laborious work of the tabernacle service. The [[Gibeonites]] similarly, having obtained by craft a covenant from Joshua (&nbsp;Joshua 9:9; &nbsp;Joshua 9:27), "because of the name" and "fame of Jehovah, Israel's God," were made "hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and altar." </p> <p> The Nethinim were their successors; a larger number of servants of the sanctuary being needed when David was reorganizing the worship, he and the princes "appointed" (Hebrew, "gave") Nethinim for the service of the Levites (&nbsp;Ezra 8:20), probably from the prisoners taken in war, upon their embracing the worship of Jehovah. The foreign or [[Canaanite]] names confirm this view: "Mehunim, Nephusim, and the children of Sisera" (&nbsp;Ezra 2:43-54). So "Solomon's servants" (&nbsp;Ezra 2:55; &nbsp;Nehemiah 7:60), those "left of the Amorites, [[Hittites]] ... upon whom he levied a tribute of bond service" (&nbsp;1 Kings 9:20). The rabbis represent them as having no right of intermarriage with Israelites ''(Gemara Babyl., Jebam. Ii. 4, Kiddusch. Iv. 1, Carpsov. App. Crit. De Neth.)'' ; below the children of "mixed marriages" ( '''''Mamzerim''''' ), but above proselytes fresh from paganism and emancipated slaves. </p> <p> But when the Levites were slow in coming forward at the return from Babylon, 341 only under [[Zerubbabel]] as contrasted with 4,289 priests (&nbsp;Ezra 2:36-58) and none under Ezra until especially called (&nbsp;Ezra 8:15; &nbsp;Ezra 8:17; &nbsp;Ezra 8:20), the Nethinim became more conspicuous, 392 under Zerubbabel, 220 under Ezra, "all expressed by name," registered after the Levites (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 9:2) and admitted to join the covenant (&nbsp;Nehemiah 10:28, compare &nbsp;Deuteronomy 29:11). (See [[Levites]] .) [[Exempted]] from taxation by [[Artaxerxes]] (&nbsp;Ezra 7:24). [[Ophel]] and the [[Levite]] cities were their dwelling place, and they had their own rulers (&nbsp;Ezra 2:70; &nbsp;Nehemiah 11:21). [[Josephus]] (B.J. ii. 17, section 6) mentions "a feast of carrying wood", '''''Xylophoria''''' , in which all the people brought wood for the sacrifices of the year, probably relieving the Nethinim; its beginning may be traced in &nbsp;Nehemiah 10:34. </p>

<p> [[Nethinim]] ( ''Nĕth'I-Nim'' ), ''Given, Dedicated.'' The name of the [[Hebrew]] temple servants, under the Levites. The whole of the Nethinim do not appear to have been, in their origin, Gibeonites, as it is not improbable that other foreigners were occasionally added to the staff. &nbsp;Joshua 9:3-27; &nbsp;Ezra 8:20. The employment of the Nethinim, though the lowest in the service of the sanctuary, was not regarded as degrading, but rather as a sort of honorable servitude. &nbsp;1 Chronicles 9:2; &nbsp;Ezra 2:43-58; &nbsp;Ezra 2:70; &nbsp;Nehemiah 3:31; &nbsp;Nehemiah 7:46-60; &nbsp;Nehemiah 7:73; &nbsp;Nehemiah 11:8; &nbsp;Nehemiah 11:21.. </p>

<p> (Heb. Nethinim, '''''נְתִינִים''''' ) is the name given in the post-exilian books of the Hebrew [[Scriptures]] to the hereditary Temple servants who were assigned to the Levites to do the subordinate and menial work. </p> <p> '''1.''' ''Name And Its Signification'' . '''''—''''' The name '''''נְתַינַים''''' which is the plural of '''''נתין''''' , passive adjective from '''''נתן''''' , ''To Give,'' "to set apart, to denote," properly denotes ''Given,'' "the devoted," i.e., to do the menial work of the sanctuary for the Levites, and, like other terms of office, has become the appellative of that class of men who were thus allotted as hereditary Temple servants to assist the Levites. Hence they are called '''''Ἱερόδουλοι''''' by Josephus ''(Ant.'' 11:5, 6), while the Vulg. ''(Nathinzaei),'' the [[Chaldee]] ( '''''נתינין''''' ), Luther ''(Nethiniam),'' the [[Zurich]] Bible, Coverdale, Matthew's Bible, the [[Geneva]] Version, the Bishops' Bible, and the A.V. uniformly retain the original in all the seventeen passages in which it occurs, except that the A.V., following the example of the preceding English versions, incorrectly adds the plural termination s ''("Nethinims")'' to the Hebrew '''''ים''''' , which is already plural, as it does in "cherubims." The Sept., however, is ins consistent both in its spelling and rendering of it. Thus, in nine places out of the seventeen it has '''''Οἱ''''' '''''Ναθινίμ''''' '','' Alex. '''''Ναθινείμ''''' ''L'' (&nbsp;Ezra 2:70; &nbsp;Ezra 7:7; &nbsp;Ezra 7:24; &nbsp;Ezra 8:20 [twice]; &nbsp;Nehemiah 3:26; &nbsp;Nehemiah 7:46; &nbsp;Nehemiah 7:73; &nbsp;Nehemiah 10:28); in three '''''Οἱ''''' '''''Ναθιναῖοι''''' (&nbsp;Ezra 2:43 [Vat. '''''Ναθινίμ''''' ]; &nbsp;Nehemiah 11:3; &nbsp;Nehemiah 11:21); in two '''''Ναθανείμ''''' [Vat. '''''Ναθανίμ''''' ] (&nbsp;Ezra 2:58; &nbsp;Nehemiah 7:60); in one '''''Ἀθανείμ''''' '','' (&nbsp;Ezra 8:17); in another it takes '''''בית''''' '''''הנתינים''''' for one word, and substitutes for it '''''Βηθανναθινίμ''''' (&nbsp;Nehemiah 3:31); and in another place again it translates '''''נתינים''''' by '''''Οἱ''''' '''''Δεδομένοι''''' (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 9:2). Theodoret's explanation of '''''נתינים''''' , '''''Δόσις''''' '''''Ι᾿Αώ''''' , '''''Τουτέστι''''' , '''''Το''''' '''''῾Υ''''' '''''Ὄντος''''' '''''Θεοῦ''''' ''(Quaest. [[In.]] I. Paralip.),'' which is also that of Bochart, ''"Dedititios'' appellavit, quod se sponte deedissent" ''(Phaleg,'' lib. 2, cap. 1; ''Opp.'' 1:67, ed. Lugduni, 1692), is both contrary to the grammatical meaning of the word, which, as ''"Pail" Participle,'' can only be ''Those Given,'' and not ''Who [[Voluntarily]] Gave Themselves,'' and at variance with facts. </p> <p> '''2.''' ''Origin And Duties Of The Nethinim'' . '''''—''''' It is the unanimous voice both of [[Jewish]] tradition (comp. Jebasmoth,. 78 b; [[Midrash]] [[Jalkut]] on &nbsp;Joshua 9:27) and the best Jewish commentators (comp. [[Rashi]] and [[Aben-Ezra]] on &nbsp;Ezra 2:43; Kimchi on &nbsp;Joshua 9:20) that the Gibeonites whom Joshua consigned forever to be the hewers of wood and the drawers of water, i.e., the perpetual menial servants ''(לבית'' '''''אלהי''''' ) of the sanctuary (&nbsp;Joshua 9:21-27), are the original caste denominated Nethinim in the post-exilian period; and there is no valid reason for rejecting this ancient tradition. As these Gibeonites or sanctuary slaves were greatly diminished by the bloody persecutions of Saul, and in the massacre at' Nob (&nbsp;2 Samuel 22:1-19), and moreover, as the reorganization and extension of the sanctuary service effected by the royal [[Psalmist]] both rendered the work of the Levites very laborious and demanded an increase of the existing staff of menial. servants, "David and the princes [after him] gave ( '''''נתן''''' ) the [[Nethinim]] (or these given ones, : '''''הנתינים''''' ) for the service of the Levites" (&nbsp;Ezra 8:20). </p> <p> From the ancient practice of consigning aliens and captives of war to do both the menial work of the people at large and of the priests and Levites (&nbsp;Numbers 31:25-47; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 29:10), which also obtained among the Syrians, Phoenicians, the Greeks, and other nations of antiquity, and which still obtains among the Arabs, who devote slaves to the service of the [[Kaaba]] at Mecca and to the sepulchre of the [[Prophet]] at [[Medina]] (Burckhardt, Travels in Arabia, 1:288, etc.; 2:166, etc., 174, 181), there can be little doubt that the thinned ranks were recruited by David and the other princes from the captives taken in battle. Indeed, their foreign names given in the catalogue of those who returned from [[Babylon]] (&nbsp;Ezra 2:43-58) fully confirm this view. As this newly increased and reorganized staff, founded upon the remnant of the aboriginal Gibeonites, was now formally and exclusively given by David to the Levites (&nbsp;Ezra 8:20), just as the Levites themselves, by the command of God, were given to the priests (&nbsp;Numbers 8:19; &nbsp;Numbers 18:2-6), their primitive name was no more applicable to them, because the new accession, constituting the majority, were no Gibeonites, and because they were '''no''' more the servants of the sanctuary at large, but were ''A Gift'' to the Levites. It was for this reason that they were henceforth called Nethinim ( '''''נתינים''''' ), ''The Given Ones,'' i.e., to the Levites, the very expression used with regard to the Levites when they in their turn were given to the priests. (See Levite). </p> <p> Being thus given to them, the Nethinim had to relieve the Levites of every menial and laborious work connected with the sanctuary. They had to draw and carry the water, hew and fetch the wood, and attend to everything which the Levites ordered them to do; and because they were so entirely at the disposal of the Levites, therefore the Bible prescribes no special duties for the Nethinim. </p> <p> '''3.''' ''Number Of The Nethinim, Their Locality, Revenues, And Social Position.'' '''''—''''' We must not forget that the Levites were given to Aaron and his sons, i.e., to the priests as an order, and were accordingly the first Nethinim ( '''''נְתוּנַם''''' , &nbsp;Numbers 3:9; &nbsp;Numbers 8:19). At first they were the only attendants, and their work must have been laborious enough. The first conquests, however, brought them their share of the captive slaves of the Midianites, and 320 were ''Given'' to them as having charge of the [[Tabernacle]] (&nbsp;Numbers 31:47), while 32 only were assigned specially to the priests. This disposition to devolve the more laborious offices of their ritual upon slaves of another race showed itself again in the treatment of the Gibeonites. They, too, were given (A.V. "made") to be "hewers of wood and drawers of water" for the house of God (&nbsp;Joshua 9:27), and the addition of so large a number (the population of five cities) must have relieved the Levites from much that had before been burdensome. We know little or nothing as to their treatment. It was a matter of necessity that they should be circumcised (&nbsp;Exodus 12:48) and conform to the religion of their conquerors, and this might at first seem hard enough. On the other hand, it must be remembered that they presented themselves as recognising the supremacy of Jehovah (&nbsp;Joshua 9:9), and that for many generations the remembrance of the solemn covenant entered into with them made men look with horror on the shedding of Gibeonitish blood (&nbsp;2 Samuel 21:9), and protected them from much outrage. No addition to the number thus employed appears to have been made during the period of the Judges, and they continued to be known by their old name as the Gibeonites. The want of a further supply was, however, felt when the reorganization of worship commenced under David. Either the massacre at Nob had involved the Gibeonites as well as the priests (&nbsp;1 Samuel 22:19), or else they had fallen victims to some other outburst of Saul's fury, any though there were survivors (&nbsp;2 Samuel 21:2), the number was likely to be quite inadequate for the greater stateliness of the new worship at Jerusalem. It is to this period accordingly that the origin of the class bearing this name may be traced. </p> <p> The Nethinim were those "whom David and the princes appointed (Heb. gave) for the service of the Levites" (&nbsp;Ezra 8:20). Though their number is nowhere given up to the time of the [[Babylonian]] captivity, yet the fact that the aboriginal ''Hieroduli,'' i.e., the Gibeonites, consisted of thee population of five cities when the service of the sanctuary was not so imposing makes it pretty certain that the Nethinim with whom David and the other princes replenished the thinned ranks at the time when the Temple worship required a large staff of menial servants must have counted their thousands. As a matter of convenience, they most probably lived within the precincts and in the immediate neighborhood of the Temple, and must have been supported by the contributions of the people. We have more decided information about them in the post-exilian records. Only 612 Nethinim returned from Babylon '''''—''''' 392 with Zerubbabel (&nbsp;Ezra 2:58; &nbsp;Nehemiah 7:60), and 220 with Ezra (&nbsp;Ezra 8:20) '''''—''''' under the leadership of Ziha and [[Gispa]] (&nbsp;Nehemiah 11:21), who, as their foreign names indicate, were of their own body. But even this small number had to be coaxed in order to get them to return from exile, as is evident from &nbsp;Ezra 8:17, where they are addressed as [[Brethren]] of Iddo, a chief of the Levites. It is evident from the whole context (&nbsp;Ezra 8:15-19), which speaks of securing Iddo's interests to procure Levites as well as Nethinim, that he was not a Nathin, but a distinguished Levite who had great influence both among his own [[Levitical]] brethren and the Nethinim who were under his control. Some of them lived in Ophel, which they helped to rebuild (&nbsp;Nehemiah 3:26; &nbsp;Nehemiah 11:26), because of its proximity to the Temple; while others, as in the preexilian period, dwelt with the Levites in their own cities (&nbsp;Ezra 2:70). They were under the control of a chief of their own body (&nbsp;Ezra 2:43; &nbsp;Nehemiah 7:46). [[Belonging]] to the Temple, they, like the other sacred ministers, were exempted from taxation by the [[Persian]] satraps (&nbsp;Ezra 7:24), and were maintained from the Temple treasury and ( '''''מעשר''''' '''''שנם''''' ) the second tithes ''(Jebamnoth,'' 86 b; ''Jerusalem Maaser Sheni,'' 5:15; ''Jerusalem Sota,'' 9:11; comp. Herzfeld, ''Geschichte Des Volkes Israel,'' 1:138-140). </p> <p> Though they conformed to the Jewish religion (&nbsp;Exodus 12:48; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 29:11; &nbsp;Joshua 9:9; &nbsp;Nehemiah 10:28), they occupied a very low position, and were even ranged below the ''Mamzer'' ( '''''ממזר''''' ), or illegal offspring, as may be seen from the following order of precedence given in the Mishna: "A priest is before a Levi, a [[Levi]] before an Israelite, an Israelite before a ''Manzer,'' a ''Mamzer'' before a ''Nathin,'' a ''Neathin'' before a proselyte, and a proselyte before a manunitted slave" (Horajoth, 3:8). The Nethinim were restricted to intermarriage among themselves, and if a Jew or [[Jewess]] married one of them, though all the valid ceremonies were performed, the issue shared in all the degrading disqualifications of the Nethinim (Mishna, Kiddushin, 3:12; 4:1; Jebamoth, 2:4); and they were even excluded from the privileges of being exempt from military service, allotted to newly-married people and to those who were faint-hearted (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 20:7-8, with Mishna, ''Sota,'' 8:3-6). If a woman was suspected of being deflowered by any one, or if she had an illegitimate child, it was ascribed to a Nathin, and the offspring took the degraded position of the Nathin, notwithstanding the assertion of the mother that the father of the child was a priest, unless she could adduce proof to support her assertion (Mishna, Kethuboth, 1:8, 9). If a court of justice ( '''''בית''''' '''''דין''''' ) gave a decision, and one of the members of the court was found to be a Nathin, the judgment was invalid, inasmuch as he was not regarded as a legal number of the congregation ( '''''עדה''''' ) specified in &nbsp;Leviticus 4:13; &nbsp;Numbers 35:24 (Mishna, ''Elorajoth,'' 3:1). Eventually they seem to have been merged in the mass of the Jewish population, as no allusion to them occurs in the [[Apocrypha]] or New Testament. Their number, at all events, was then insufficient for the service of the Temple; whence, as Josephus tells us ( ''War,'' 2:17, 6), a festival, called '''''Ξυλοφορία''''' (Xylophoria), was established, in which the people, to supply the deficiency, were obliged to bring a certain quantity of wood to the Temple for the use of the altar of burnt offering. See Schroder, ''De Netthinceis'' (Marb. 1719; Will, ''De Nethinceis Levitarmur Famulis'' (Altdorf, 1745); Lampe, in Miscell. Groning. 1:463 sq., 539 sq.; Pfeffinger, in Ugolin. Thesaur. volume 13. (See [[Gibeonite]]); (See Temple). </p>

<p> ''''' neth´i ''''' - ''''' nim ''''' ( נתינים , <i> ''''' nethı̄nı̄m ''''' </i> , "given"; Ναθεινείμ , <i> ''''' Natheineı́m ''''' </i> ; the King James Version [[Nethinims]] ): </p> 1. Meaning: <p> A group of temple-servants (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 9:2 and &nbsp; 1 Chronicles 9:16 times in Ezra and Nehemiah). The word has always the article, and does not occur in the singular. The [[Septuagint]] translators usually transliterate, but in one passage (&nbsp; 1 Chronicles 9:2 ) they render, "the given ones" ( <i> ''''' hoi ''''' </i> <i> ''''' dedoménoi ''''' </i> ). The [[Syriac]] (Peshitta) also, in Ezra, Nehemiah, transliterates the word, but in &nbsp;1 Chronicles 9:2 renders it by a word meaning "sojourners." The meaning "given" is suggestive of a state of servitude, and Josephus seems to confirm the suggestion by calling the <i> ''''' Nethı̄nı̄m ''''' </i> "temple-slaves" ( <i> ''''' hieródouloi ''''' </i> ) ( <i> Ant. </i> , XI, v, 1). It should, however, be noted that another form of this word is employed in the directions regarding the Levites: "Thou shalt <i> give </i> the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly <i> given </i> unto him on behalf of the children of Israel" (&nbsp; Numbers 3:9; compare also &nbsp;Numbers 8:16 , &nbsp;Numbers 8:19 ). </p> 2. History: <p> Of the history of the <i> ''''' Nethı̄nı̄m ''''' </i> in earlier times there are but few and uncertain traces. When Joshua discovered that he had been beguiled by the Gibeonites into a covenant to let them live, he reduced their tribe to servitude, and declared, "Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall never fail to be of you bondsmen, both hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God" (&nbsp; Joshua 9:23 , &nbsp;Joshua 9:27 ). It is no doubt tempting to see in the Gibeonites the earliest Nethinim, but another tradition traces their origin to a gift of David and the princes for the service of the Levites (&nbsp;Ezra 8:20 ). Their names, too, indicate diversity of origin; for besides being mostly un-Hebrew in aspect, some of them are found elsewhere in the Old Testament as names of non-Israelitish tribes. The <i> ''''' [[Meunim]] ''''' </i> , for example (&nbsp;Ezra 2:50 = &nbsp; Nehemiah 7:52 ), are in all likelihood descended from the Meonites or [[Maonites]] who are mentioned as harassing [[Israel]] (&nbsp;Judges 10:12 ), as in conflict with the [[Simeonites]] (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 4:41 ), and as finally overcome by [[Uzziah]] (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 26:7 ). The next name in the lists is that of the children of Nephisim. These may be traced to the [[Hagrite]] clan of [[Naphish]] (&nbsp;Genesis 25:15; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 5:19 ). In both Ezra and Nehemiah, the list is immediately followed by that of the servants of Solomon, whose duties were similar to, it may be even humbler than, those of the <i> ''''' Nethı̄nı̄m ''''' </i> . These servants of Solomon appear to be descendants of the Canaanites whom Solomon employed in the building of his temple (&nbsp;1 Kings 5:15 ). All these indications are perhaps slight; but they point in the same direction, and warrant the assumption that the <i> ''''' Nethı̄nı̄m ''''' </i> were originally foreign slaves, mostly prisoners of war, who had from time to time been <i> given </i> to the temple by the kings and princes of the nation, and that to them were assigned the lower menial duties of the house of God. </p> 3. Post-Exilic History: <p> At the time of the return from the exile the Nethinim had come to be regarded as important. Their number was considerable: 392 accompanied Zerubbabel at the first [[Return]] in 538 Bc (&nbsp;Ezra 2:58 = &nbsp; Nehemiah 7:60 ). When Ezra, some 80 years later, organized the second Return, he secured a contingent of <i> ''''' Nethı̄nı̄m ''''' </i> numbering 220 (&nbsp;Ezra 8:20 ). In Jerusalem they enjoyed the same privileges and immunities as the other religious orders, being included by Artaxerxes' letter to Ezra among those who should be exempt from toll, custom and tribute (&nbsp;Ezra 7:24 ). A part of the city in Ophel, opposite the Water-gate, was assigned them as an official residence (&nbsp;Nehemiah 3:26 , &nbsp;Nehemiah 3:31 ), and the situation is certainly appropriate if their duties at all resembled those of the Gibeonites (see Ryle, "Ezra and Nehemiah," in <i> [[Cambridge]] Bible </i> , Intro, 57). They were also organized into a kind of guild under their own leaders or presidents (&nbsp;Nehemiah 11:21 ). </p> <p> The <i> ''''' Nethı̄nı̄m ''''' </i> are not again mentioned in Scripture. It is probable that they, with the singers and porters, became gradually incorporated in the general body of Levites; their name passed ere long into a tradition, and became at a later time a butt for the scorn and bitterness of the Talmudic writers against everything that they regarded as un-Jewish. </p>