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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJames Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Hananiah
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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.