Priest living at the time of Exile and Return
Jaddua served as the high priest during the reign of Darius the Persian and was contemporary with Alexander the Great.
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Jaddua is mentioned in Neh.12.11 and 22 as a high priest who served during the reign of Darius the Persian. He was the son of Jonathan and the grandson of Joiada, who were also high priests (Neh.12.11).
The genealogy in Nehemiah 12 traces the succession of high priests from the time of the first return from Babylonian exile under Jeshua until the reign of Darius the Persian, also known as Darius III or Darius Codomannus (336-331 BC). This places Jaddua's tenure as high priest in the late 4th century BC.
Neh.12.22 mentions that the Levites were recorded as heads of their fathers' houses during the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, until the reign of Darius the Persian. This suggests that Jaddua served as high priest for a considerable time, possibly spanning the reigns of multiple Persian kings.
According to Jewish tradition, as recorded in Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews (XI 8.4-5), Jaddua was the high priest who met Alexander the Great when the Macedonian king approached Jerusalem during his conquest of the Persian Empire. However, this account is not mentioned in the biblical text.
Jaddua's inclusion in the genealogy of high priests in Nehemiah 12 highlights the continuity of the priestly line and the importance of the high priestly office in the post-exilic Jewish community. It also provides a valuable historical reference point, linking the biblical narrative to the broader context of ancient Near Eastern history.
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JADDU'A (known). One who sealed the covenant. Neh 10:21. The son of Jonathan, high priest of the Jews, who officiated a considerable time after the Captivity, and who is believed to be the same who lived in the time of Alexander the Great "by those who maintain that the list, Neh 12:11, of high priests from Joshua to Jaddua, or from b.c. 538-b.c. 336, cannot, in its present shape, have proceeded from Nehemiah's hand, or from that of a contemporary." -Bible (Speaker's) Commentary. He is the last of the high priests mentioned in the O.T.
JADDU'A (known). One who sealed the covenant. Neh 10:21. The son of Jonathan, high priest of the Jews, who officiated a considerable time after the Captivity, and who is believed to be the same who lived in the time of Alexander the Great "by those who maintain that the list, Neh 12:11, of high priests from Joshua to Jaddua, or from b.c. 538-b.c. 336, cannot, in its present shape, have proceeded from Nehemiah's hand, or from that of a contemporary." -Bible (Speaker's) Commentary. He is the last of the high priests mentioned in the O.T.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
2 verses in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H3037
Joiada was the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan was the father of Jaddua.
In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, during the reign of Darius the Persian, the heads of the families of the Levites and priests were recorded.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.