Heldai

Biblical Account

Heldai appears in Zechariah 6:9–15. The LORD commands the prophet Zechariah to take an offering from among the captives who had returned from Babylon, namely from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah. That same day Zechariah goes to the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they were staying, and receives silver and gold. From this silver and gold crowns are made and set upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest (Zechariah 6:10–11).

There follows the proclamation that the man whose name is "The BRANCH" will build the temple of the LORD, will sit and rule upon his throne, and will also serve as a priest (Zechariah 6:12–13). Zechariah 6:14 directs that the crowns be given to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah, and be placed in the temple of the LORD as a memorial. This is all the text records about Heldai; nothing is said of his origins or his later life.

Significance within Scripture

Heldai belongs to the period when the community that had returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile was taking part in the rebuilding of the temple. The offering he brought was used in a symbolic act in which the offices of priest and king were brought together. Heldai does not appear in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Debated Points

• Two names: "Heldai" in Zechariah 6:10 and "Helem" in Zechariah 6:14 are regarded as the same person. Likewise, "Josiah" in 6:10 and "Hen" in 6:14 are regarded as the same person. Opinions differ on why the names change: some attribute the difference to variations in scribal transmission, while others regard the forms as alternate names. Because "Hen" means "grace" in Hebrew, some read it not as a personal name but as a title such as "the gracious one." The Septuagint is known to have rendered these names as common nouns rather than as proper names.
• The crowns and "The BRANCH": Traditional Christian interpretation reads "The BRANCH" as a messianic prophecy and understands the crowning of Joshua as a type (a figure that foreshadows future events) of Jesus Christ as both King and Priest. Some scholars, pointing to the mention of a "throne" in the text, conjecture that the scene was originally connected with Zerubbabel.
• Another man of the same name: Heldai the Netophathite in 1 Chronicles 27:15, the captain in charge of the twelfth month in David's time, is a different person from the subject of this article.

In the Korean Church

Sermons or Sunday school materials devoted specifically to Heldai are rare. He is mentioned mainly as one of the returned exiles who brought the offering when preachers expound the passage in Zechariah 6 concerning "The BRANCH" and the crowns.