Padon
1:
PADON (PERSON) [Heb pādôn (פָּדֹון)]. The head of a family of Nethinim (Temple servants) who returned from the Babylonian Exile (Ezra 2:44 and parallels in Neh 7:47 and 1 Esdr 5:29). The list in Ezra-Nehemiah implies that this return took place immediately in response to Cyrus’s declaration in 538 b.c.e. But 1 Esdras places this return in its more probable date at the time of King Darius (ca. 522). As members of the guild of NETHINIM, the family of Padon would have had a special role in the temple cult, perhaps assisting the Levites (Levine 1963; Weinberg 1975). Although some scholars consider the Nethinim to be foreigners or of foreign origin (largely on the basis of later rabbinic sources), it is more likely that during the postexilic period the Nethinim, as cultic personnel, were neither considered foreigners nor slaves. Rather, like the Levites, they had been devoted to cultic service the precise nature of which can no longer be identified. The size of Padon’s family, its origins, and specific role are no longer discernible. See Blenkinsopp Ezra-Nehemiah OTL; Williamson Ezra, Nehemiah WBC.
Bibliography
Levine, B. A. 1963. The Netinim. JBL 82: 207–12.
Weinberg, J. P. 1975. Netinim und “Söhne der Sklaven Salomos” im 6–4 Jh. v. u. Z. ZAW 87: 355–71.
Tamara C. Eskenazi
Freedman, D. N. (1996, c1992). The Anchor Bible Dictionary (5:56). New York: Doubleday.
2:
PADON Forefather of a family of temple servants who returned with Zerubbabel to Palestine following the Babylonian captivity (Ezr 2:44; Neh 7:47).
Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library (983). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.
3:
PA´DON (paʹdon; “redemption, ransom, deliverance”). The name of one of the Temple servants whose descendants returned from Babylon (Ezra 2:44; Neh. 7:47), about 536 b.c.
Unger, M. F., Harrison, R. K., Vos, H. F., Barber, C. J., & Unger, M. F. (1988). The new Unger's Bible dictionary. Revision of: Unger's Bible dictionary. 3rd ed. c1966. (Rev. and updated ed.). Chicago: Moody Press.
4:
Padon (Heb. pāḏôn)
A temple servant whose descendants returned with Zerubbabel from captivity in Babylon (Ezra 2:44 = Neh. 7:47).
Freedman, D. N., Myers, A. C., & Beck, A. B. (2000). Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible (997). Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans.
