Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

TEMPLE SERVANTS

A group of temple personnel, often simply transliterated “Nethinim” (lit., “the ones given,” presumably to the service of the sanctuary). These servants are distinct from the nĕṯûnîm of Num. 3:9; 8:19, taken as referring to the Levites. Except for one reference (1 Chr. 9:2), all references to the temple servants are included in Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra 2:43-58; Neh. 7:46-60 list 392 temple servants among the exiles who returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel. A second group of 220 temple servants and 38 Levites returned with Ezra (Ezra 8:16-20).

According to Ezra 8:20 the temple servants served the Levites. They may have been dependent upon the income of the temple, but they were not slaves (e.g., they owned property; 1 Chr. 9:2). Most likely the temple servants were a group of family guilds that served priests and Levites and worked alongside cultic personnel.

Most of the personal names are Northwest Semitic, suggesting that the temple servant families originated from neighboring peoples, possibly as prisoners of war. However, these people would have long been assimilated into Israelite culture and thus not the reference of Ezekiel’s condemnation of turning the temple over to foreigners (Ezek. 44:6-7). There is no other evidence of cultural distinction.

Bibliography. A. Cody, A History of the Old Testament Priesthood. AnBib 35 (Rome, 1969).

Bruce W. Gentry

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

TEMPLE SERVANTS

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)