Malchijah

Name

Malchijah is a Hebrew name generally interpreted to mean "the LORD is my king." Because the name was common in the Old Testament, it is borne by a number of different people from various periods. It does not appear in the New Testament.

The Rebuilding of the Wall in Nehemiah 3

In the list of those who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem under Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3), the name Malchijah appears three times. The text briefly records only the section for which each man was responsible.

• Malchijah the son of Harim: Together with Hashub the son of Pahath-moab, he repaired (that is, restored what had been torn down) a section of the wall and "the tower of the furnaces" (Nehemiah 3:11).
• Malchijah the son of Rechab: He was the ruler of the district of Beth-haccerem. He repaired the Dung Gate, building it and setting up its doors, locks, and bars (Nehemiah 3:14). The Dung Gate is understood to have been the gate through which refuse was carried out of the city. For further details, see Malchijah (son of Rechab).
• Malchijah the goldsmith: A craftsman who worked with gold, he was responsible for the section opposite the Miphkad Gate. He made repairs from the houses of the Nethinim and the merchants as far as the upper room at the corner of the wall (Nehemiah 3:31). The Nethinim are understood to have been those who served in the temple.

Other Men Named Malchijah

• 1 Chronicles 6:40–41: A Levite listed as an ancestor of Asaph.
• 1 Chronicles 24:9: The name of the fifth course when the priests were divided into courses in the time of David.
• 1 Chronicles 9:12; Nehemiah 11:12: Listed as an ancestor of the priest Adaiah, who lived in Jerusalem after the return from exile.
• Ezra 10:25, 31: In the list of those who had married foreign women, two men among the descendants of Parosh and one among the descendants of Harim bear this name.
• Nehemiah 8:4: One of the men who stood at the left hand of Ezra when he read the Law from the wooden pulpit.
• Nehemiah 10:3: Listed among those who set their seal to the covenant document.
• Nehemiah 12:42: Listed among those who stood with the singers at the dedication of the wall.
• Jeremiah 21:1; 38:1: The father of Pashhur, an official of King Zedekiah.
• Jeremiah 38:6: The owner of "the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech" (that is, "the king's son"), into which Jeremiah was cast.

Interpretation and Debate

Because so many people share the name, scholars debate which records refer to the same individual. Some identify Malchijah the son of Harim (Nehemiah 3:11) with the Malchijah among the descendants of Harim in Ezra 10:31, but this cannot be established from the text alone. The relationship among the men named Malchijah in Nehemiah 8, 10, and 12 is likewise unclear.

The phrase "the king's son" in Jeremiah 38:6 is interpreted by some as referring to an actual prince and by others as a title for a royal official. Opinions also differ on whether this man is the same as Malchijah the father of Pashhur (38:1). Some connect Malchijah the son of Rechab with the Rechabites of Jeremiah 35, but this remains conjecture.

The text gives no separate account of the life or character of any of these men. Any narrative beyond this is not part of the biblical record.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, Nehemiah 3 is often preached as an example of cooperation, in which the people completed the wall by each repairing an assigned section. Malchijah is mentioned as one of the names on that list. The list is also used to illustrate how people of differing social status and occupation, such as a district ruler and a goldsmith, worked together. Sermons or hymns devoted to Malchijah alone are rare.