Hebrew word · H3172

יְחִיאֵלִי

yechi'eli

Jehieli

Built on Jehiel (yəḥîʾēl, "God lives" or "may God keep alive") plus the -î ending that forms clan names (as in Gershonite, Kohathite). It appears only here and in v. 22.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Ch.23.8;

son of Libni (H3845G) ;

brother of: Zetham (H2241) and Joel (H3100O);;

Another name of ye.chi.el (יְחִיאֵל "Jehiel" H3171H)

§ Jehieli = "God shall save alive" or "swept away of God"

a Gershonite Levite of the family of Laadan

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 26:21

Range of meaning

Built on Jehiel (yəḥîʾēl, "God lives" or "may God keep alive") plus the -î ending that forms clan names (as in Gershonite, Kohathite). It appears only here and in v. 22.

Against the English

Most English versions transliterate it as "Jehieli," which looks like a personal name. "The Jehielites" or "the house of Jehiel" would show it as a family name. Some paraphrases simply write "Jehiel."

How it drifted

Transliteration hides the clan-name ending, so readers take it for one man.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Chr 23:8: "the sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, Zetham, and Joel." 1 Chr 29:8: gifts were given "into the treasury of the house of the LORD, in the care of Jehiel the Gershonite."

Similar words

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 2

  1. 1 Chronicles 26:21 יְחִיאֵלִֽי׃ Jehieli

    From the descendants of Ladan, who were Gershonites through Ladan and heads of the families of Ladan the Gershonite, were Jehieli,

    Here: The goal of the whole sentence: the leading house is Jehieli. The -i ending normally marks a family or clan name ("Jehiel-ite"), so it most likely names the family of Jehiel, Ladan's chief son (1 Chr 23:8), who held the treasury post (1 Chr 29:8). The name means roughly "God lives" or "may God keep alive."

  2. 1 Chronicles 26:22 יְחִֽיאֵלִ֑י Jehieli

    the sons of Jehieli, Zetham, and his brother Joel. They were in charge of the treasuries of the house of the LORD.

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