Hebrew word · H2605

חָנָן

chanan

Hanan

From the verb chanan, "to show favour, be gracious". As a name it means "he has been gracious". It is generally taken as a shortened form of Hananiah ("Yah has been gracious"), with God's name left out but understood.

Appears 12 times in 12 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man of the tribe of Benjamin living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Ch.8.38;

son of: Azel (H0682A);

brother of: Azrikam (H5840H), Bocheru (H1074), Ishmael (H3458I), Sheariah (H8187) and Obadiah (H5662J)

§ Canan or Hanan = "he is merciful"

1) one of the chief people of the tribe of Benjamin

2) last of the 6 sons of Azel, a descendant of Saul

3) son of Maachah, one of David's mighty warriors

4) father of some sons who returned from exile with Zerubbabel

5) one of the Levites who assisted Ezra in his public exposition of the law

6) one of the heads of the people who also sealed the covenant with Nehemiah

7) another of the chief laymen who also sealed the covenant with Nehemiah

8) son of Zaccur, grandson of Mattaniah whom Nehemiah made one of the storekeepers of the provisions collected as tithes. Same as 5 ?

9) son of Igdaliah

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 Nehemiah 10:26

Range of meaning

From the verb chanan, "to show favour, be gracious". As a name it means "he has been gracious". It is generally taken as a shortened form of Hananiah ("Yah has been gracious"), with God's name left out but understood.

Against the English

All major English versions read "Hanan". The letter ch is a throaty h sound (ḥ) that English does not have, so it shows up as a plain H.

Used elsewhere in the period

Very common in the Persian period. Nehemiah's list alone has a Levite Hanan (10:10) and another lay leader named Hanan (10:22) besides this one, and a Hanan serves as a temple treasurer in 13:13. Later, the high priest Josephus calls Ananos, whom the New Testament calls Annas, very likely had this same Hebrew name.

Similar words

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 4

  1. 1 Chronicles 8:23 וְחָנָֽן׃ and Hanan

    Abdon, Zichri, Hanan,

  2. 1 Chronicles 8:38 וְחָנָ֑ן and Hanan

    Azel had six sons, and these were their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.

  3. 1 Chronicles 9:44 וְחָנָ֑ן and Hanan

    And Azel had six sons, and these were their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.

  4. 1 Chronicles 11:43 חָנָן֙ Hanan

    Hanan son of Maacah, Joshaphat the Mithnite,

    Here: A personal name built on the root meaning "to be gracious, show favour." It is probably a shortened form of a longer name like Hananiah ("YHWH has been gracious"). It names one of David's warriors, known only from this verse.

Ezra · 1

  1. Ezra 2:46 חָנָֽן׃ Hanan

    the descendants of Hagab, the descendants of Shalmai, the descendants of Hanan,

Nehemiah · 6

  1. Nehemiah 7:49 חָנָ֥ן Hanan

    the descendants of Hanan, the descendants of Giddel, the descendants of Gahar,

  2. Nehemiah 8:7 חָנָ֤ן Hanan

    The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law as they stood in their places.

    Here: 'Gracious', short for Hananiah ('YHWH has been gracious'). A Levite Hanan seals the covenant in Neh 10:10.

  3. Nehemiah 10:10 חָנָֽן׃ Hanan

    and their associates: Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,

  4. Nehemiah 10:22 חָנָ֖ן Hanan

    Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,

  5. Nehemiah 10:26 חָנָ֖ן Hanan

    Ahijah, Hanan, Anan,

    Here: A personal name meaning "he has been gracious", most likely a shortened form of Hananiah, "Yah has been gracious". One of the most common names of the period; another leader named Hanan already signed in v. 22.

  6. Nehemiah 13:13 חָנָ֥ן Hanan

    I appointed as treasurers over the storerooms Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, with Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, to assist them, because they were considered trustworthy. They were responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 35:4 חָנָ֥ן Hanan

    and I brought them into the house of the LORD, to a chamber occupied by the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God. This room was near the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum the doorkeeper.

    Here: A personal name meaning roughly '(God) has been gracious'. This Hanan appears only here.

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