Nethinim

Nethinim ( nəṯīnīm, lit. "given ones", or "subjects"), or Nathinites or Nathineans, was the name given to the Temple assistants in ancient Jerusalem. The term was applied originally in the Book of Joshua (where it is found in its verbal form) to the Gibeonites. Later, in the Book of Ezra, they are counted alongside the Avdei Shlomo ("Servants of Solomon"). It is likely that the Nethinim descended from non-Israelites. Opinion is divided as to whether the Gibeonites in Joshua are to be connected to the Nethinim of later texts. Others theorize that they were the descendants of Midianite war captives, as described in Numbers 31.

Etymology
Netinim is derived from the Canaanite verb N-T-N, "to give." The noun form occurs 18 times in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, always in the plural (1 Chr. 9:2; Ezra 2:43,58,70; 7:7,24; 8:17,20; Neh. 3:26,31; 7:46,60,73; 10:28; 11:3,21).

Translations and spellings
In English, Nethinim is one of several Hebrew words which are transliterated rather than translated in the King James Version (1611). It is also the most common academic spelling. The form Nathinites is found in the Douay-Rheims Version and consequently in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1911) article "Nathinites".

In Greek, the Septuagint transliterates Nethinim as οἱ Ναθιναῖοι, hoi Nathinaioi (Ezra 2:43; Neh 11:3), and as Ναθινιν (Ezra 2:58); and on one occasion, translated into Greek as οἱ δεδομένοι hoi dedoménoi, "the given ones" (1 Chron 9:2). Josephus renders the term as ἰερόδουλοι ierodouloi "temple servants". The Vulgate has Nathinæi. In Syriac the Peshitta follows the Hebrew, except that 1 Chronicles 9 renders netinim with Syriac geyora pl., equivalent of Hebrew gerim.

Hebrew Bible
In the Book of Joshua, the Nethinim are mentioned in a passage concerning the "leaders (nesi'im) of the congregation", a term also utilized in the ruling assembling of post-exilic Yehud Medinata. The passage has been read as one that confers legitimacy on this class, or, alternatively, criticizing them for acting autonomously. In the latter regard, it is contended that the author of Joshua blames these leaders, independently of the priesthood, for inducting the Gibeonites into cultic service in Jerusalem. In Talmudic tradition, they became associated with the Nethinim.

The Nethinim are mentioned at the return from the Exile and particularly enumerated in and. The original form of the name was Nethunim, as in the ketiv (consonantal reading) of (cf. ), and means "given" or "dedicated," i.e., to the temple. The Talmud also uses the singular form Nathin. In all, 612 Nethinim came back from the Exile and were lodged near the "House of the Nethinim" at Ophel, towards the east wall of Jerusalem so as to be near the Temple, where they served under the Levites and were free of all tolls, from which they must have been supported. They are ordered by David and the princes to serve the Levites. The men of Gibeon, with Melatiah the Gibeonite at their head, repaired a piece of the wall of Jerusalem near the old gate on the west side of the city (Neh. iii. 7), while the Nethinim dwelt at Ophel on the east side (ib. 26).

Many of the names enumerated in Ezra 2 for the Nethinim appear to indicate a foreign provenance, including people of Arab, Ishmaelite, Egyptian, Edomite and Aramaic ethnicities, with nicknames appropriate to slaves. Most of the names of the parents mentioned seem to be feminine in form or meaning, and suggest that the Nethinim could not trace back to any definite paternity; and this is supported by the enumeration of those who could not "show their father's house".

Rabbinical Judaism
At the time of Nehemiah and Ezra, they were fully integrated into the Judean community, and were signatories to the former's covenant. Several centuries later, their status had declined rapidly. In the 10 genealogical classes (yuhasin) set forth in the Mishnah, they are ranked above shetukim (people of whose paternity is unknown) and assufim (foundlings) but beneath mamzerim, the offspring of illicit unions, and were prohibited from marrying Israellites of good standing, though intermarriage between the last four classes, which included freed slaves, was permitted. A child of such illicit unions was defined as a natin. Whereas the Biblical prohibitions against intermarriage with the Moabites, Ammonites, Egyptians and Edomites only applied for a certain number of generations or did not apply at all to their daughters, the ban on marriage with Mamzerim and Nethinim was deemed "perpetual and applies both to males and females".

Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses use the term Nethinim to refer to members not claiming to be "anointed" who are selected to assist the Governing Body. <!--Cath Ency merged content The name occurs in seventeen passages of the Old Testament, and the Vulgate renders it always by the adapted transcription Nathinœi. Josephus (Ant. of the Jews, xi, i, 6) renders the Hebrew Nathinim by the equivalent 'eródouloi, i. e. "sacred servants".

The Nathinites appear under this title only in the post-Exilic writings, but if we are to credit the Jewish tradition reflected in the Talmud, their origin goes back to the time of Josue, viz.: that in the first organization of the Mosaic ritual no provision had been made for the menial services regularly deputed to slaves — all being performed by the levites. But after the defeat of the Madianites, Moses gave (nthn nathan) one out of every 50 of the 16,000 prisoners (320 in all) to the levites for the service of the Tabernacle at night (Numbers 31:47). Josue, however, it is claimed, was the first to officially depute a number of slaves for the exclusive service of the sanctuary. Out of respect for his oath he spared the lives of the Gabaonites (Joshua 9:23, 26-27), but decreed that henceforth they must become hewers of wood and drawers of water in connexion with the Jewish worship.

After the construction of Solomon's Temple and the consequent development of the ritual, the number of these slaves was increased. They were in all probability prisoners of war, who in the growing organization of the Temple worship were condemned to be the servants of the levites, even as the latter in the course of time had been differentiated from the priests. Though not of the Jewish race, it is probable that the Nathineans learned and practised the Jewish religion. Nehemias (Nehemiah 10:28) classes them with those who were separated from the people to serve the law of God, but according to the Talmud they were a despised class and were debarred from contracting marriage with Jewish women.

They were carried into captivity with the others by Nabuchodonoser, and according to Esdras, 612 of them (including those called "the children of the servants of Solomon") returned to Palestine: 392 with Zorobabel (Ezra 2:43-58; Nehemiah 7:47-60), and 220 with Esdras eighty years later (Ezra 8:20). After the return the Nathineans lived most likely as they had previously under the monarchy, some in the levitical cities (Ezra 2:70; Nehemiah 7:73), during the periods when they were not detailed for service in the Temple, the others in Jerusalem, where, as Nehemias informs us (Nehemiah 3:26, 11:21), they inhabited the Ophei quarter, i. e. in the southeast part of the city, and near the gate leading to the fountain now known as the fountain of the Virgin. From this they drew the water of which copious use was made in the sacrificial and other sacred functions.

They had officers chiefly chosen from among their own ranks (Nehemiah 11:21; cf. Ezra 2:43; Nehemiah 7:47). Like the priests and levites they were exempted from taxation by the Persian rulers (Ezra 7:24). No mention or trace of the Nathineans appears in the New Testament. -->