Phinees

PHINEES

fin'-e-es (Phinees; Codex Vaticanus (Swete), Pheinees (1 Esdras 8:2)):

(1) Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron (1 Esdras 5:5; 8:2,29; 2 Esdras 1:2; 1 Macc 2:26; Sirach 45:23).

(2) The father of Achias and son of Hell (Eli), a descendant of (1), and one of Ezra's progenitors (2 Esdras 1:2); but this link is not found in Ezra's genealogy (1 Esdras 8:1 f), nor in Ezra 7:1; 1 Chronicles 6, and its insertion in 2 Esdras 1:2 is a mistake, since Ezra's descent was from Eleazar, while this Phinees (Phinehas) was a descendant of Ithamar, the youngest son of Aaron.

(3) A Levite, the father of Eleazar (1 Esdras 8:63) equals "Phinehas" of Ezra 8:33. But it is just possible that the well-known Eleazar (1) is referred to here, and so not another and different Phinees.

(4) The King James Version equals the Revised Version (British and American) "Phinoe" (1 Esdras 5:31).

S. Angus