Jeshua (Levite)

Biblical Record

Jeshua is a prominent name among the Levites who returned from the Babylonian exile, and he appears in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The name is a later form of Joshua and means "the LORD is salvation." He is not the same person as his contemporary, the high priest "Jeshua the son of Jozadak" (Ezra 3:2).

• List of returnees: Ezra 2:40 records the Levites who returned with Zerubbabel as "the children of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the children of Hodaviah, seventy and four" (paralleled in Nehemiah 7:43). Nehemiah 12:8, which also lists the Levites who returned at that time, places Jeshua's name first.
• Rebuilding of the temple: According to Ezra 3:9, Jeshua, together with his sons and brethren, Kadmiel, and others, oversaw the workmen on the temple.
• Interpreting the Law: In Nehemiah 8:7-8, when Ezra read the book of the Law, Jeshua and other Levites explained its meaning and "caused them to understand the reading."
• Prayer of repentance: On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, when the people assembled with fasting and confessed their sins (Nehemiah 9:1-3), Jeshua and the Levites stood upon the stairs and cried out to God. They then led the people in praise, saying, "Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever" (Nehemiah 9:4-5).
• Other references: Nehemiah 10:9 names "Jeshua the son of Azaniah" among the Levites who sealed the covenant. Nehemiah 12:24 names "Jeshua the son of Kadmiel" as a Levitical leader responsible for praise and thanksgiving. Ezra 8:33 mentions "Jozabad the son of Jeshua," a Levite.

Significance in Scripture

Jeshua illustrates the role the Levites played in the community that returned from exile. The Levites not only served in the temple but also explained and taught the Word and led the community in repentance and praise. The New Testament does not mention this figure. The name "Jesus" is the same name as the Hebrew Yeshua (Jeshua), but the biblical text draws no connection between the two figures.

Interpretation and Debate

• An individual or a family?: Several decades or more separate Zerubbabel's return (Ezra 2) from the time of Ezra and Nehemiah (Nehemiah 8–10), though scholars differ on the exact dates. For this reason, many interpreters regard "Jeshua" not as a single individual but as a Levitical family that bore the name, or as that family's representative, or else as several different people with the same name. His father's name also varies, appearing as Azaniah (Nehemiah 10:9) and as Kadmiel (Nehemiah 12:24). Regarding Nehemiah 12:24, some scholars hold that names originally listed side by side were changed to "the son of Kadmiel" in the course of transmission.
• The speaker of the prayer in Nehemiah 9: In the Hebrew text, the words of the Levites in 9:5 are followed by a long prayer (9:6-37). The Greek translation known as the Septuagint adds "And Ezra said" before verse 6, attributing the prayer to Ezra, and some translations follow this reading. The Korean New Revised Version (Gaeyeok Gaejeong) does not include these words.
• Life: Scripture does not record details of Jeshua's personal life, such as his birth or death.

In the Korean Church

Jeshua himself is rarely the subject of sermons or Sunday school lessons. He is more often introduced in connection with the assembly in the square before the Water Gate in Nehemiah 8. The scene in this passage, in which the Levites read the Law and explained its meaning so that the people understood, is often cited as a model for Scripture reading, preaching, and Bible study, and Jeshua is mentioned as the figure whose name heads the list of those Levites. Nehemiah 9 serves as a sermon text on repentance and communal prayer.