Hebrew word · H3111

יוֹיָדָע

yoyada'

Joiada

A sentence-name: 'YHWH knows' (or 'YHWH has known/cared for'). Yo- is a short form of the divine name, and yada' is 'to know', which in Hebrew includes recognising, choosing and caring for someone, not only having information.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament.

What it means

A man of the tribe of Levi living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Neh.12.10;

son of: Eliashib (H0475N);

father of: Johanan (H3110L) and son_of_Joiada (H3111I); also called Jehoiada at Neh.13.28;

§ Joiada or Jehoiada = "Jehovah knows"

1) son of Paseah, who assisted to repair the old gate of Jerusalem

2) son of the high priest Eliashib in the time of Nehemiah

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 12:11

Range of meaning

A sentence-name: 'YHWH knows' (or 'YHWH has known/cared for'). Yo- is a short form of the divine name, and yada' is 'to know', which in Hebrew includes recognising, choosing and caring for someone, not only having information. A fuller spelling, Jehoiada, belongs to the famous priest of 2 Kings 11–12.

Against the English

English versions all transliterate it as 'Joiada'. Since the name is never translated, an English reader misses its meaning.

Used elsewhere in the period

Nehemiah 12:10–11 and 12:22. Nehemiah 13:28 tells of 'one of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest' who married the daughter of Sanballat the Horonite, governor of Samaria, and whom Nehemiah drove out. Josephus (Antiquities 11.297) calls him Judas.

Where it appears

Nehemiah · 5

  1. Nehemiah 3:6 יֽוֹיָדָע֙ Joiada

    The Jeshanah Gate was repaired by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah. They laid its beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.

  2. Nehemiah 12:10 יוֹיָדָֽע׃ Joiada

    Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim was the father of Eliashib, Eliashib was the father of Joiada,

  3. Nehemiah 12:11 וְיוֹיָדָע֙ and Joiada

    Joiada was the father of Jonathan, and Jonathan was the father of Jaddua.

    Here: The 'and' picks up the chain from verse 10 (Eliashib fathered Joiada). Joiada, whose name means 'YHWH knows', is the fourth high priest after the return from exile. Each name in the chain is both the object of one clause and the subject of the next.

  4. Nehemiah 12:22 יוֹיָדָ֤ע Joiada

    In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan, and Jaddua, during the reign of Darius the Persian, the heads of the families of the Levites and priests were recorded.

  5. Nehemiah 13:28 יוֹיָדָ֤ע Joiada

    Even one of the sons of Jehoiada son of Eliashib the high priest had become a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I drove him away from me.

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