{{Short description, Biblical name Malchijah (Hebrew: מַלְכִּיָּה, also Malkijah, Malchiah, Melchiah, or Melchias) is a biblical name belonging to several persons mentioned in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Yahweh Yahweh was an Ancient Semitic religion, ancient Semitic deity of Weather god, weather and List of war deities, war in the History of the ancient Levant, ancient Levant, the national god of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Judah, Judah and Kingdom ...

is King" or "the king is Yahweh".http://www.htmlbible.com/sacrednamebiblecom/kjvstrongs/CONHEB444.htm#S4441, Strong's Bible Disctionary, website, accessed November 4, 2006.

In 1 Chronicles

The first Malchijah mentioned in the Bible was a priest of ancient

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

after the order of

Aaron According to the Old Testament of the Bible, Aaron ( or ) was an Israelite prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of Moses. Information about Aaron comes exclusively from religious texts, such as the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament ...

, during the reign of

King David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

in the 10th century BC. Malchijah led the fifth of the 24

priestly divisions The priestly divisions or sacerdotal courses ( ''mishmar'') are the groups into which kohanim "priests" were divided for service in the Temple in Jerusalem in ancient Judea. The 24 priestly divisions are first listed in 1 Chronicles 24. Role i ...

. The biblical passage of

1 Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( , "words of the days") is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third section of the Jewish Tan ...

24 documents the division of the priests during the reign of King David. These priests were all descendants of Aaron, who had four sons: Nadab,

Abihu In the biblical books of Book of Exodus, Exodus, Book of Leviticus, Leviticus and Book of Numbers, Numbers, Nadab () and Avihu () were the two oldest sons of Aaron. According to Shemini (parashah), Third reading—Leviticus 9:24–10:11, Leviticu ...

Eleazar Eleazar (; ) or Elazar was a priest in the Hebrew Bible, the second High Priest, succeeding his father Aaron after he died. He was a nephew of Moses. Biblical narrative Eleazar played a number of roles during the course of the Exodus, from ...

and

Ithamar In the Bible, Ithamar () was the fourth (and the youngest) son of Aaron the High Priest."Ithamar", '' Encyclopaedia Biblica'' Following the construction of the Tabernacle, he was responsible for recording an inventory to ensure that the construc ...

. However, Nadab and Abihu died before Aaron and only Eleazar and Ithamar had sons. One priest,

Zadok Zadok (), also spelled Ṣadok, Ṣadoc, Zadoq, Tzadok or Tsadoq (; lit. 'righteous, justified'), was a Kohen (priest), biblically recorded to be a descendant of Eleazar the son of Aaron. He was the High Priest of Israel during the reigns of Dav ...

, from Eleazar's descendants and another priest, Ahimelech, from Ithamar's descendants were designated to help create the various priestly orders. Sixteen of Eleazar's descendants were selected to head priestly orders while only eight of Ithamar's descendants were so chosen. The passage states that this was done because of the greater number of leaders among Eleazar's descendants. Lots were drawn to designate the order of ministering for the heads of the priestly orders when they entered the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

. Since each order was responsible for ministering during a different week, Malchijah's order was stationed as a watch at the

Tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...

during the fifth week of the year on the

Hebrew calendar The Hebrew calendar (), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance and as an official calendar of Israel. It determines the dates of Jewish holidays and other rituals, such as '' yahrze ...

In Nehemiah

Persons with the name of Malchijah are also mentioned in Nehemiah. Malchijah, the son of Harim, is mentioned in

Nehemiah Nehemiah (; ''Nəḥemyā'', "Yahweh, Yah comforts") is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period as the governor of Yehud Medinata, Persian Judea under Artaxer ...

3:11 as a worker with Nehemiah and Eliashib on the repairs to the walls of Jerusalem. Malchijah, the son of Rechab, was another worker mentioned in Nehemiah 3:14 with Nehemiah and Eliashib on the Jerusalem walls repair. Another reference to Malchijah as a goldsmith working with Nehemiah and Eliashib is mentioned in Nehemiah 3:31 and a Malchijah is named as one of those who stood with

Ezra Ezra ( fl. fifth or fourth century BCE) is the main character of the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible, he was an important Jewish scribe (''sofer'') and priest (''kohen'') in the early Second Temple period. In the Greek Septuagint, t ...

during the reading of the law in Nehemiah 8:4. In Nehemiah 12:42, another reference to one of these Malchijah's is mentioned again as Nehemiah's assistant during the dedication service of the restored walls of Jerusalem.

In Ezra

10:25, two sons of Parosh are named among those of Israel who had taken foreign wives.

In Jeremiah

A Malchiah or Melchiah was mentioned in the

Book of Jeremiah The Book of Jeremiah () is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and the second of the Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. The superscription at chapter Jeremiah 1#Superscription, Jeremiah 1:1–3 identifies the book as "th ...

, Chapter 21, Verse 1. Melchiah was a son in the kingdom of

Zedekiah Zedekiah ( ; born Mattaniah; 618 BC – after 586 BC) was the twentieth and final King of Judah before the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. After the siege of Jerusalem in 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II deposed king Jec ...

, and the father of Pashur, the messenger who was charged with taking a message from the King to

Jeremiah Jeremiah ( – ), also called Jeremias, was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, book that bears his name, the Books of Kings, and the Book of Lamentations, with t ...

asking for God's intervention in the war against

Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar II, also Nebuchadrezzar II, meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir", was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from the death of his father Nabopolassar in 605 BC to his own death in 562 BC. Often titled Nebuchadnezzar ...

References

External links

Strong's Bible Dictionary

1 Chronicles 24 on Chabad.org with Rashi's commentaryHitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
Set index articles on Hebrew Bible people