Hebrew word · H4153

מוֹעַדְיָה

lemo'adyah

Moadiah

Appears only here. It is almost universally identified with Maadiah (ma'adyah) in 12:5, and often also with Maaziah, the 24th division in 1 Chronicles 24:18. If read with mo'ad, the name suggests 'Yah's appointed time/meeting'. The 12:5 spelling suggests 'ornament of Yah'.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Neh.10.8; also called Maadiah at Neh.12.5; Moadiah at Neh.12.17;

Another name of ma.az.yah (מַעַזְיָהוּ "Maaziah" H4590H)

§ Moadiah = "the set time of JAH"

one of the priests who returned with Zerubbabel

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 12:17

Range of meaning

Appears only here. It is almost universally identified with Maadiah (ma'adyah) in 12:5, and often also with Maaziah, the 24th division in 1 Chronicles 24:18. If read with mo'ad, the name suggests 'Yah's appointed time/meeting'. The 12:5 spelling suggests 'ornament of Yah'.

Against the English

English versions simply transliterate the name. The spelling difference from 12:5 is invisible to most readers unless a footnote points it out.

Used elsewhere in the period

Compare Maadiah (Nehemiah 12:5) and Maaziah (Nehemiah 10:8; 1 Chronicles 24:18). Some Greek manuscripts seem to have taken the consonants as the common word mo'ed ('appointed time') and translated a phrase instead of a name.

Where it appears

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 12:17 לְמוֹעַדְיָ֖ה of Moadiah

    of Abijah, Zichri; of Miniamin and of Moadiah, Piltai;

    Here: Another priestly house, almost certainly the 'Maadiah' of 12:5. The two spellings differ by one letter and look like scribal variants of the same name. The meaning is uncertain: perhaps 'Yah's appointed time/assembly' (if spelled with mo'ad) or 'ornament of Yah' (if spelled as in 12:5).

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