Pedaiah

Biblical Record

Pedaiah appears in the genealogy of the Davidic royal line in 1 Chronicles 3. First Chronicles 3:17-18 lists the sons of Jeconiah "the captive" (rendered as the name "Assir" in the KJV) in order: Salathiel (Shealtiel), Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazar, Jecamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. Jeconiah is Jehoiachin, the king of Judah who was carried off to Babylon. Pedaiah was therefore a member of the royal family around the time of the Babylonian exile.

First Chronicles 3:19 goes on to record, "And the sons of Pedaiah were, Zerubbabel, and Shimei." Apart from this genealogy, Scripture records nothing of his life or deeds.

Others of the Same Name

The Old Testament also mentions other individuals bearing the same name:

• Pedaiah of Rumah, father of Zebudah, the mother of King Jehoiakim (2 Kings 23:36)
• The father of Joel, ruler of the half-tribe of Manasseh in David's time (1 Chronicles 27:20)
• The son of Parosh, who repaired part of the wall (Nehemiah 3:25)
• A man who stood at the left hand of Ezra when he read the Law (Nehemiah 8:4)
• An ancestor of Sallu, of the descendants of Benjamin (Nehemiah 11:7)
• A Levite whom Nehemiah appointed over the storehouses (Nehemiah 13:13)

Significance Within Scripture

Pedaiah is notable chiefly because of his relationship to Zerubbabel, who led the return from exile and directed the rebuilding of the temple.

Other passages, such as Ezra 3:2 and Haggai 1:1, call Zerubbabel "the son of Shealtiel." In the New Testament, Matthew 1:12 and Luke 3:27 likewise record Zerubbabel as the son of Shealtiel (Salathiel) in the genealogies of Jesus. The name Pedaiah does not appear in the New Testament.

Interpretations and Debates

Several explanations have been proposed for the fact that two different fathers are recorded for Zerubbabel:

• Levirate marriage view: Shealtiel died without a son, and his brother Pedaiah married the widow to carry on his line. In this case Zerubbabel would be the biological son of Pedaiah and the legal son of Shealtiel. The regulation in Deuteronomy 25:5-10 is cited in support.
• Adoption or inheritance view: Shealtiel took his nephew as his heir.
• Textual tradition view: Some manuscripts of the Septuagint are reported to read "the sons of Shealtiel" in 1 Chronicles 3:19. This interpretation focuses on that variant.
• Different persons view: The two Zerubbabels were different individuals. This is a minority view.

Scripture does not state which of these is correct, and all of them are interpretive inferences. Because the text contains no account of Pedaiah's character or his life in exile, any such material that circulates should be distinguished from the biblical record.

In the Korean Church

Pedaiah is rarely treated on his own in sermons or Sunday school. He is mentioned mainly in Bible study and commentaries when explaining the genealogies of Zerubbabel and Jesus, and when discussing how the line of the house of David continued after the exile.