Bible Dictionaries
Jehohanan

Holman Bible Dictionary

(jee hoh' hay nan) Personal name meaning, “Yahweh is gracious.” 1. A priest in whose Temple quarters Ezra refreshed himself and mourned for the sin of the people in taking foreign wives (Ezra 10:6 ). This Jehohanan is sometimes equated with the high priest of Nehemiah 12:22-23 who is considered then to be a grandson of the high priest Eliashib and also to be the high priest mentioned in the Elephantine Papyri as serving about 411 B.C. Such evidence is then used to date the ministry of Ezra to about 398 B.C. rather than being in the time of Nehemiah. See Ezra. The relationships between the priestly Eliashibs and Jehohanans of Scripture are too unclear to make dating decisions on them. This Jehohanan may have been related to the Eliashib of Nehemiah 13:4 who was not a high priest but was closely connected to Temple chambers. 2. A layman with a foreign wife under Ezra ( Ezra 10:28 ). 3 . Son of Tobiah, who opposed Nehemiah's work in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 6:18 ). Jehohanan's marriage to a prominent Jerusalem family gave Tobiah an information system concerning Jerusalem happenings. See Meshullam; Tobiah .

4. Head of a priestly family about 450 B.C. (Nehemiah 12:13 ). 5 . Priest who helped Nehemiah celebrate completion of Jerusalem wall (Nehemiah 12:42 ). 6 . A Levite and gatekeeper (1 Chronicles 26:3 ). 7 . A military commander under King Jehoshaphat of Judah (2 Chronicles 17:15 ). 8 . Father of a military commander under Jehoiada, the high priest, in the assassination of Queen Athaliah and the installation of Joash as king of Judah about 835 B.C. 9. Father of military captain under King Pekah of Israel (2 Chronicles 28:12 ).