Kadmiel

Biblical Record

Kadmiel is a Levite who appears only in Ezra and Nehemiah. The Hebrew name is sometimes interpreted as "God is of old" or "before God," though its meaning is not certain.

• List of returnees: Ezra 2:40 lists "the children of Jeshua and Kadmiel" among the Levites who returned with Zerubbabel and gives their number as seventy-four. The same list appears in Nehemiah 7:43, and Nehemiah 12:8 also names Kadmiel among the Levites who returned at that time.
• Oversight of the temple work: According to Ezra 3:9, when the foundation of the temple was laid, Kadmiel and his sons, together with Jeshua and the sons of Henadad, oversaw the workmen.
• Prayer of repentance: In Nehemiah 9:4–5, as the people fasted and confessed their sins, Kadmiel stood upon the stairs with other Levites and cried out to God. They then called on the people, "Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever."
• Sealing the covenant: Nehemiah 10:9 lists Kadmiel among the Levites who set their seal to the covenant to keep the law.
• Nehemiah 12:24 names "Jeshua the son of Kadmiel" among the chief of the Levites.

Significance Within Scripture

The name Kadmiel illustrates the work entrusted to the Levites in the community of the return from exile: rebuilding the temple, leading praise, and guiding the people in repentance. Nothing is recorded of his personal life or words. He is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Issues

• Individual or family: The return in Ezra 2 took place in the time of Cyrus, while the events of Nehemiah 9–10 are dated several decades to nearly a century later. For this reason many commentators regard Kadmiel not so much as a single individual but as the name of a Levitical family, or suggest that different men bore the same name. The phrase "the children of Kadmiel" in Ezra 2:40 also supports this interpretation.
• The text of Nehemiah 12:24: The phrase "Jeshua the son of Kadmiel" differs from the sequence "Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel" in Nehemiah 10:9 and 12:8. Some scholars have therefore suggested that the Hebrew word rendered "son" may originally have been "Binnui."
• The speaker of the prayer: In the Hebrew text, the long prayer beginning at Nehemiah 9:6 follows directly upon the words of Kadmiel and the other Levites. The Septuagint, by contrast, is known to add "And Ezra said" before 9:6.

In the Korean Church

Sermons or Sunday school lessons devoted specifically to Kadmiel are rare in the Korean church. He is typically mentioned only in passing when the prayer of repentance in Nehemiah 9 or the community of returnees from exile is discussed.