Hebrew word · H3076

יְהוֹחָנָן

yehochanan

Jehohanan

A personal name built from two parts. Yəhô- is the short form of God's personal name YHWH used at the start of names. Ḥānan is a verb meaning 'to be gracious, to show favour', especially favour that someone has no claim on, from a superior to a weaker person.

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.12.4

§ Jehohanan = "Jehovah has graced"

1) a priest during the high priesthood of Joiakim who returned with Zerubbabel

2) a high priest in the time of Ezra

3) a Levite priest who took part in the dedication of the wall in the time of Nehemiah

4) son of Tobiah

5) a Korhite Levite and one of the doorkeepers to the tabernacle in the time of David

6) a captain of Judah under king Jehoshaphat

7) an Ephraimite

8) an Israelite with a foreign wife in the time of Ezra

9) a Jewish captain after the fall of Jerusalem

10) the eldest son of king Josiah

11) a post-exilic prince of the line of David

12) father of Azariah, priest in Solomon's time

13) a Benjamite, one of David's mighty warriors

14) a Gadite, one of David's mighty warriors

15) a returning exile

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 26:3

Range of meaning

A personal name built from two parts. Yəhô- is the short form of God's personal name YHWH used at the start of names. Ḥānan is a verb meaning 'to be gracious, to show favour', especially favour that someone has no claim on, from a superior to a weaker person. The perfect form ('has been gracious') usually thanks God for something he has already done, often the birth of the child.

Against the English

English versions all transliterate it ('Jehohanan'), which hides the meaning. Most readers do not see that this is the same name as 'John' (Hebrew Yoḥanan, Greek Iōannēs).

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in the period after the exile: a priest's son (Ezra 10:6, 'Jehohanan son of Eliashib'), a singer in Nehemiah 12:42, and others. The shortened form Yoḥanan is widespread in Second Temple Jewish names and inscriptions, and in the Greek Septuagint it is regularly rendered Iōan(n)an or Iōannēs.

From the study of Nehemiah 12:13

Range of meaning

YHWH + ḥānan ("he showed favour, was gracious"): "YHWH has been gracious." Shortened forms are Yôḥānān (Johanan), and in Greek Iōannēs (John).

Against the English

English versions keep the full form "Jehohanan," which hides the link to the familiar name John.

Used elsewhere in the period

The name was very common among Persian-period priests. A Elephantine letter of 407 BC (the petition to the governor Bagohi) names "Yehohanan the high priest and his colleagues the priests in Jerusalem." That Jehohanan is a different, later man (compare Neh 12:22–23), but the letter shows how usual the name was in priestly families. Several other Jehohanans appear in Ezra–Nehemiah (Ezra 10:28; Neh 6:18; 12:42).

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 3

  1. 1 Chronicles 12:4 וְי֣וֹחָנָ֔ן and Johanan

    Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the Thirty and a leader over the Thirty; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite;

  2. 1 Chronicles 12:12 יֽוֹחָנָן֙ Johanan

    Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,

  3. 1 Chronicles 26:3 יְהוֹחָנָ֣ן Jehohanan

    Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, and Eliehoenai the seventh.

    Here: A name meaning 'YHWH has been gracious'. Later it was shortened to Yoḥanan, which in Greek became Iōannēs, the English 'John'.

2 Chronicles · 3

  1. 2 Chronicles 17:15 יְהוֹחָנָ֣ן Jehohanan

    next to him, Jehohanan the commander, and with him 280,000;

  2. 2 Chronicles 23:1 יְ֠הוֹחָנָן Jehohanan

    Then in the seventh year, Jehoiada strengthened himself and made a covenant with the commanders of hundreds—with Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri.

  3. 2 Chronicles 28:12 יְהֽוֹחָנָן֙ Jehohanan

    Then some of the leaders of the Ephraimites—Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai—stood in opposition to those arriving from the war.

Ezra · 2

  1. Ezra 10:6 יְהוֹחָנָ֣ן Jehohanan

    Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and walked to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. And while he stayed there, he ate no food and drank no water, because he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.

  2. Ezra 10:28 יְהוֹחָנָ֥ן Jehohanan

    From the descendants of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai.

Nehemiah · 3

  1. Nehemiah 6:18 וִֽיהוֹחָנָ֣ן and Jehohanan

    For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, since he was a son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.

  2. Nehemiah 12:13 יְהוֹחָנָֽן׃ Jehohanan

    of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan;

    Here: The head of the Amariah family under Joiakim. The name means "YHWH has been gracious." It is the long Hebrew form behind the later name John, and it was very common among priests in this period.

  3. Nehemiah 12:42 וִֽיהוֹחָנָ֥ן and Jehohanan

    and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. Then the choirs sang out under the direction of Jezrahiah.

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