Zattu זַתּוּא
Ancestor of returning exiles
Who is Zattu in the Bible?
Zattu was the ancestor of a family group that returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile, as recorded in Ezra 2:8, 8:5, and Nehemiah 7:13. According to Ezra's account, 945 members of Zattu's family made the journey back to their homeland, though Nehemiah's list records a slightly smaller number of 845 descendants. Some of Zattu's sons had married foreign women during the exile, and they participated in Ezra's spiritual reformation by agreeing to separate from these wives (Ezra 10:27). Additionally, Zattu is named as one of the chiefs who signed the covenant renewal under Nehemiah's leadership (Nehemiah 10:14), indicating his family's significant role in rebuilding and restoring Jewish community life in the post-exilic period.
Biography
Zattu is mentioned in the lists of Jewish exiles who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. In the accounts found in Ezra and Nehemiah, the descendants of Zattu are enumerated among the families who made the journey back to their homeland. The Ezra account records 945 members of Zattu's family, while Nehemiah's list mentions 845. These numbers suggest that the family of Zattu was a significant group among the returning exiles who helped rebuild Jerusalem and restore Jewish community life in the post-exilic period. Additionally, some members of Zattu's family are mentioned among those who had married foreign women and agreed to separate from them in response to Ezra's call for spiritual reformation.
In Scripture
2 biblical books ; 2 with study contentEzra 3 verses
- Ezra 2:8
"the descendants of Zattu, 945;"
Study Ezra → - Ezra 8:5
"from the descendants of Zattu, Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men;"
Study Ezra → - Ezra 10:27
"From the descendants of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza."
Study Ezra →
Nehemiah 1 verse
- Nehemiah 7:13
"the descendants of Zattu, 845;"
Study Nehemiah →
Names & Aliases
| Form | Language | Script |
|---|---|---|
| Named | Hebrew | זַתּוּא |
Zattu
ible:Neh.7.13">Ne 7:13; 10:14 (15)). According to Ezr 10:27, some of his sons had married foreign wives, and Zattu is named in Ne 10:14 as one of the chiefs who signed Nehemiah's covenant. Septuagint A also adds the name before that of Shecaniah in Ezr 8:5, and so we should read, "And of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah .... "; so 1 Esdras 8:32 has Zathoes. the King James Version has "Zatthu" in Neb 10:14.
za'-van.
See ZAAVAN.
za'-yin "z": The 7th letter of the Hebrew alphabet; transliterated in this Encyclopedia as "z". It came also to be use