MEREMOTH

(Merʹe·moth) [elevations].

1. One of the head priests accompanying Zerubbabel from Babylon to Jerusalem in 537 B.C.E. (Neh. 12:1-7) A priestly paternal house of the next generation is named “Meraioth” and it is possible that Meremoth was its founder. (Neh. 12:15) The names are rather similar as written in Hebrew characters.

2. Son of Urijah and a prominent priest in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. When Ezra and a Jewish remnant came to Jerusalem from Babylon in 468 B.C.E., Meremoth was among the priests into whose hands they “proceeded to weigh out the silver and the gold and the utensils in the house” of Jehovah. (Ezra 8:31-34) Meremoth was a descendant of Hakkoz, some of whose descendants could not establish their genealogy. (Ezra 2:61, 62) But that the division of the family to which he belonged could verify its lineage is evident, since Meremoth shared in priestly functions. He also took part in doing repair work on Jerusalem’s wall under Nehemiah’s supervision.—Neh. 3:3, 4, 21.

3. A priest, or the forefather of one of those attesting by seal the “trustworthy arrangement” of Nehemiah’s day.—Neh. 9:38–10:5.

4. An Israelite among the “sons of Bani” who had accepted foreign wives but sent them away “along with sons” in Ezra’s day.—Ezra 10:25, 34, 36, 44.