Hebrew word · H1938

הוֹדַוְיָה

hodavyah

Hodaviah

A personal name built from the verb hodah, 'to give thanks, acknowledge, praise', plus Yah (short for YHWH). It means roughly 'Give thanks to YHWH' or 'YHWH is praise'. The longer form is Hodavyahu.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man of the tribe of Judah living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.3.24;

son of: Elioenai (H0454B);

brother of: Eliashib (H0475), Pelaiah (H6411B), Akkub (H6126), Johanan (H3110I), Delaiah (H1806) and Anani (H6054)

Also named: ho.day.va.hu (הוֹדַיְוָהוּ "Hodaiah" H1939)

§ Hodaviah = "praise ye Jehovah"

1) a man of Manasseh, one of the heads of the half tribe on the east of Jordan

2) a man of Benjamin, son of Has-senuah

3) a Levite, who seems to have given his name to an important family in the tribe

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Chronicles 9:7

Range of meaning

A personal name built from the verb hodah, 'to give thanks, acknowledge, praise', plus Yah (short for YHWH). It means roughly 'Give thanks to YHWH' or 'YHWH is praise'. The longer form is Hodavyahu.

Against the English

Spelled Hodaviah in all major versions.

Used elsewhere in the period

Other Hodaviahs appear in 1 Chronicles 3:24 (a descendant of David), 5:24 (a chief of Manasseh), and Ezra 2:40 (a Levite family, called Hodevah in Nehemiah 7:43). These are different people.

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 3

  1. 1 Chronicles 3:24 הוֹדַוְיָ֡הוּ Hodaviah

    The sons of Elioenai: Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani—seven in all.

  2. 1 Chronicles 5:24 וְהוֹדַוְיָ֜ה and Hodaviah

    These were the heads of their families: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. They were mighty men of valor, famous men, and heads of their families.

  3. 1 Chronicles 9:7 הוֹדַוְיָ֖ה Hodaviah

    From the Benjamites: Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah;

    Here: A name built on the verb 'to give thanks / praise' plus a short form of God's name: 'Give thanks to YHWH' or 'Praise of YHWH'. Several unrelated men in Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah bear it.

Ezra · 1

  1. Ezra 2:40 הוֹדַוְיָ֖ה Hodaviah

    The Levites: the descendants of Jeshua and Kadmiel (through the line of Hodaviah), 74.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.