Meremoth

exaltations, heights, a priest who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel ( Nehemiah 12:3 ), to whom were sent the sacred vessels ( Ezra 8:33 ) belonging to the temple. He took part in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem ( Nehemiah 3:4 ).

bitterness; myrrh of death

(elevations ),

1. Son of Uriah or Urijah the priest, of the family of Koz or Hakkoz, the head of the seventh course of priests as established by David. In ( Ezra 8:33 ) Meremoth is appointed to weigh and register the gold and silver vessels belonging to the temple. In the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem under Nehemiah we find Meremoth taking an active part. ( Nehemiah 3:4 )
2. A layman of the sons of Bani, who had married a foreign wife. ( Ezra 10:36 )
3. A priest, or more probably a family of priests, who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. ( Nehemiah 10:5 )

MEREMOTH

mer'-e-moth, me-re'-moth (meremoth, "heights"; Mereimoth):

(1) Son of Uriah (Ezra 8:33), who was head of the 7th course of priests appointed by David (1 Chronicles 24:10, Hakkoz = Koz; compare Nehemiah 3:4,21). The family of Koz were among those unable to prove their pedigree on the return from Babylon, and were therefore deposed as polluted (Ezra 2:61,62). Meremoth's division of the family must, however, have been scatheless, for he is employed in the temple after the return as weigher of the gold and the vessels (Ezra 8:33), a function reserved for priests alone (Ezra 8:24-28). He takes a double part in the reconstruction under Nehemiah, first as a builder of the wall of the city (Nehemiah 3:4), then as a restorer of that part of the temple abutting on the house of Eliashib the priest (Nehemiah 3:21); "Marmoth" in 1 Esdras 8:62.

(2) A member of the house of Bani, and, like so many of that house, among those who married and put away foreign wives (Ezra 10:36). He seems to be named Carabasion (!) in the corresponding list of 1 Esdras 9:34.

(3) The name occurs in Nehemiah 10:5 among those who "seal the covenant" with Nehemiah (Nehemiah 10:1). It may there be the name of an individual (in which case there were 4 of the name), or it may be a family name. Certainly a "Meremoth" came back under Zerubbabel 100 years before (Nehemiah 12:3), and the signatory in question may be either a descendant of the same name or a family representative. The name recurs later in the same list (Nehemiah 12:15) as "Meraioth" through a scribal error confusing the two Hebrew letters yodh (y) and cholem (o) for mem (m). A comparison of Nehemiah 12:1-3 and 12:12-15 shows clearly that it is the same person. Note that in 12:15 "Helkai" is the name of the contemporary leader.

(4) For Meremoth (1 Esdras 8:2 the King James Version).

See MEMEROTH.

Henry Wallace