Pahath-moab

Concept

Pahath-moab, meaning governor of Moab, is the name of an Israelite family or clan whose ancestors apparently held some administrative connection with Moab. This family is first recorded among those who returned from the Babylonian captivity with Zerubbabel, with 2,812 members listed in Ezra 2:6. A further contingent of 200 returned with Ezra himself (Ezra 8:4).

Members of the Pahath-moab clan appear prominently in the restoration period: some had taken foreign wives and agreed to put them away at Ezra's direction (Ezra 10:30), and a Pahath-moab descendant named Hashub helped repair a section of Jerusalem's wall under Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3:11). A leader of the family sealed the covenant renewal in Nehemiah 10:14. The clan represents one of the larger lay families of the return community.