PETHAHIAH

(Peth·a·hiʹah) [Jehovah opens].

1. The paternal house selected for the nineteenth of the twenty-four rotating priestly divisions that David organized.—1 Chron. 24:5-7, 16.

2. One of the Levites whom Ezra encouraged to dismiss their foreign wives. (Ezra 10:23, 44) Possibly the same as No. 3 below.

3. One of the Levites who joined in proposing the “trustworthy arrangement” to the returned exiles in which they reviewed the history of God’s dealings with their nation, confessed their sin and agreed to renew true worship. (Neh. 9:5-38) Possibly the same as No. 2 above.

4. A postexilic go-between for the restored exiles and the Persian king; son of Meshezabel and descendant of Zerah in the tribe of Judah.—Neh. 11:24.