NETHINIM

This article appears in Volume V19, Page 421 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: NAN-NEW

NETHINIM , the name given to the Temple assistants in ancient Jerusalem. They are mentioned at the return from the

Exile

EXILE (Lat. exsilium or exilium, from exsul or exul, which is derived from ex, out of, and the root sal, to go, seen in salire, to leap,
consul
- CONSUL
- CONSUL (in Gr. generally ihraros,ashortened form of errpavgybs 8hraeos, i.e. praetor maximus)
, &c.; the connexion with solum, soil, country is now generally considered wrong)

and particularly enumerated in Ezra ii. and Neh. vii. The

original

ORIGINAL

form of the name was Nethunim, as in the Khetib (consonantal reading) of Ezra viii. 17 (cf. Numbers iii. 9), and means " given " or " dedicated," i.e. to the temple. The Talmud has also the singular formNathin. In all, 612 Nethinim came back from the

Exile

EXILE (Lat. exsilium or exilium, from exsul or exul, which is derived from ex, out of, and the root sal, to go, seen in salire, to leap,
consul
- CONSUL
- CONSUL (in Gr. generally ihraros,ashortened form of errpavgybs 8hraeos, i.e. praetor maximus)
, &c.; the connexion with solum, soil, country is now generally considered wrong)

and were lodged near the " House of the Nethinim " at Ophel, towards the east

wall

WALL (O. Eng. weal, weall, Mid. Eng. wal, wane, adapted from Lat. vallum, rampart; the
original
- ORIGINAL
O. Eng. word for a wall was wag or tenth)
WALL, RICHARD (1694-1778)

of Jerusalem so as to, be near the Temple, where they served under the

Levites

LEVITES

and were free of all tolls, from which they must have been supported. It is mentioned that they had been ordered by David and the princes to serve the

Levites

LEVITES

(Ezra viii. 20).
Notwithstanding their sacred service, the Nethinim were regarded by later Jewish tradition as especially degraded, being placed in tables of precedence below bastards (Talm. Jer. Hor. iii. 5, Jeb. vii. 5) and in the Mishna (Jeb. viii. 3) it is stated that the prohibition against intermarriage with the Moabites, Ammonites, Egyptians and Edomites, though given in the Bible, only applied for a certain number of generations and did not apply at all to their daughters, but, it is added, " Bastards and Net hinim are prohibited (to marry Israelites), and this prohibition is perpetual and applies both to males and females."
To explain this combination of sacred service and exceptional degradation, it has been suggested by Joseph Jacobs that the Nethinim were the descendants of the Kedishoth, i.e. women dedicated to the

worship

WORSHIP (i.e. " worth-ship," O. Eng. weor8scipe)

of Astarte and attached to the Temple before the Exile. There is evidence of these practices from the time of Solomon (1 Kings'xi. 5) down to Josiah (2 Kings xiii. 4-6), and even as late as Ezekiel (Ezek. xxiii. 36-48), giving rise to the command of Deuteronomy xxiii. 17.
An examination of the name lists given in duplicate in Ezra H. 43-58, Neh. vii. 46-59, together with the additional names in the Greek Esdras (v. 29-35), shows that the Nethinim were in charge of the rings and hooks connected with the temple service; they sheared the sheep offered for sacrifice in the temple and poured the libations. Some of them were derived from the wars with the Meunim; others from the campaign with Rezin of Damascus. One of the names given in 1 Esdras v. 34, viol Eov/3iz, ed. Fritzsche, lov(3as, ed. Swete, would seem to throw
light on the puzzling reading o'Ho (A.V. " Sabeans," R.V.
" Drunkards ") of Ezek. xxiii. 42, and if so would directly connect the

list

of the Nethinim with the degraded

worship

WORSHIP (i.e. " worth-ship," O. Eng. weor8scipe)

of Astarte in the Temple.
A large majority of the names of the parents mentioned seem to be feminine in form or meaning, and suggest that the Nethinim could not trace back to any definite paternity; and this is con-firmed by the fact that the lists are followed by the enumerationof those who could not " show their father's house " (Ezra ii. 6o; Neh. vii. 62). The Greek versions, as well as Josephus, refer to them as iepb3ovXot, which can mean one thing only.
The Talmudic authorities have an abstract term, Nethinuth, indicating the status of a Nathin (Tos.

Kidd

, v. 1) ed. Zucker mandel, p. 341), and corresponding to the abstract Mamziruth, " bastardy." The existence of this degraded class up to the Exile throws considerable light upon the phraseology of the prophets in referring to idolatry as

adultery

ADULTERY (from Lat. adulterium)

and the scenes connected with it as prostitution. Their continued existence as a pariah class after the Exile would be a perpetual reminder of the dangers and degradation of the most popular Syrian creed.
These unfortunate creatures had no alternative but to accept the provisions made for them out of the Temple treasury, but after the fall of the 'Temple they would naturally disappear by intermarriage with similar degraded classes (Mishna

Kidd

. viii. 3). In the Code of Khammurabi 191, 192, they could be adopted by outsiders.
The above explanation of the special degradation of the Nethinim, though they were connected with the Temple service, seems to be the only way of explaining the Talmudic reference to their tabooed position, and is an interesting example of the light that can be reflected on Biblical research by the Talmud.
See Joseph Jacobs, Studies in Biblical Archaeology (1894), io4-122 ; W. Baudissin, Geschichte des Alttestamentlichen Priestert hums, 142 seq. This view, however, is not accepted by

Cheyne

CHEYNE, THOMAS KELLY (1841— )

, Encyclopaedia Biblica, s.v. (J. JA.)

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