Bible Dictionaries
Iddo

Holman Bible Dictionary

(ihd' doh) English spelling of four different Hebrew personal names. 1. Name of uncertain meaning. Person with authority in the exilic community during the Persian period to whom Ezra sent messengers to secure Levites to join him in the return to Jerusalem (Ezra 8:17 ). He apparently sent the needed Levites (Ezra 8:19-20 ). 2 . Personal name perhaps meaning, “his praise.” Leader of the eastern half of tribe of Manasseh under David (1 Chronicles 27:21 ). The written Hebrew text uses this name in Ezra 10:43 for a man with a foreign wife, but an early scribal note followed by English translations read Jadau. 3. Name perhaps meaning, “Yahweh adorns Himself.” A prophet whose records the chronicler refers to for more information about Solomon and Jeroboam ( 2 Chronicles 9:29 ), Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 12:15 ), and Abijah (2 Chronicles 13:22 ). The latter indicates he wrote a midrash (NAS, “annotations”), which may indicate a Jewish exposition of Scripture. As early as Josephus, Iddo had been identified with the nameless prophet who spoke against the altar of Bethel in 1 Kings 13:1 . The Hebrew texts spell his name in different ways in the different occurrences. 4. Grandfather of Zechariah, the prophet (Zechariah 1:1 ,Zechariah 1:1,1:7 with different Hebrew spellings). Ezra 5:1; Ezra 6:14 put Zechariah as Iddo's son, using “son” to mean descendant, as often in Hebrew. He is included among the priestly families in the early postexilic community ( Nehemiah 12:4 ,Nehemiah 12:4,12:16 ). 5 . Father of Solomon's district supervisor who supplied the royal court provisions for one month a year in the area of Mahanaim (1 Kings 4:14 ). 6 . A Levite (1 Chronicles 6:21 ).