mat-a-ni'-a (mattanyaha, "gift of Yah"):

 (1) King Zedekiah's original name, but changed by Nebuchadnezzar when he made him king over Judah instead of his nephew Jehoiachin (2Ki 24:17).

 (2) A descendant of Asaph (1Ch 9:15), leader of the temple choir (Ne 11:17; 12:8). Mentioned among the "porters," keepers of "the storehouses of the gates" (Ne 12:25), and again in Ne 12:35 as among the "priests' sons with trumpets."

 (3) May be the same as (2), though in 2Ch 20:14 he is mentioned as an ancestor of that Jahaziel whose inspired words in the midst of the congregation encouraged Jehoshaphat to withstand the invasion of Moab, Ammon and Seir (20:14 ff).

 (4-7) Four others who had foreign wives,

 (a) the Matthanias of 1 Esdras 9:27 (Ezr 10:26);

 (b) the Othonias of 1 Esdras 9:28 (Ezr 10:27);

 (c) the Matthanias of 1 Esdras 9:31 (Ezr 10:30);

 (d) the fourth of these in 1 Esdras 9:34 the King James Version has had his name blended into that of Mattenai, and the two appear as the composite name Mamnitanemus (Ezr 10:37). He is a son of Bani.

 (8) A Levite, father of Zaccur, ancestor of Hanan the under-treasurer of the Levitical offerings under Nehemiah (Ne 13:13).

 (9) One of the sons of Heman the singer, whose office it was to blow the horns in the temple-service as David had appointed it (1Ch 25:4,5). He was head of the 9th division of the 12 Levites (1Ch 25:16), who were proficient in the Songs of Yahweh (1Ch 25:7).

 (10) One of the sons of Asaph who helped Hezekiah in the fulfilling of his vow to cleanse the house of the Lord (2Ch 29:13).

  Henry Wallace