Who was Hanan in the Bible?

The name of 8 men in the Old Testament

Hebrew name: חָנָן (chanan)

Name meaning: 

a. The name of two descendants of Benjamin (1 Chronicles 8:23, 38, 9:44)

Hanan, son of Shashak (8:23) and Hanan, son of Azel were descendants of Benjamin, the youngest son of Jacob, and part of the tribe of Benjamin. The tribe of Benjamin was one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Hanan, son of Azel is listed in the genealogy of Saul.

b. One of David’s mighty men (1 Chronicles 11:43)

Hanan the son of Maacah is listed as one of King David’s “mighty men”, an elite group of warriors who supported David when he became king.

c. A temple attendant mentioned by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 35:4)

Levites in the temple had rooms or chambers in which they would read prophecy, eat sacrificial meals, or store materials. Jeremiah 35 indicates that Hanan’s family had one of these chambers.

d. A temple servant (Ezra 2:46; Nehemiah 7:49)

After the exile, thousands of Jews returned to Jerusalem after the decree of Cyrus the Great (~539 B.C.) which allowed them to leave Babylon. Upon returning, exiles were catalogued and organized according to families, identified by a common ancestor. Hanan was the common ancestor of a family of servants in the temple.

e. A priest at the time of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 8:7, 10:26)

Nehemiah documents Hanan as one of the priests who assisted the community in reading and understanding the Law as it was read aloud.

f. A signatory of Nehemiah’s covenant (Nehemiah 10:22)

Hanan is mentioned in Nehemiah 10:22 as one of the signers of Nehemiah’s covenant. This covenant involved the newly returned exiles agreeing to follow the Law of Moses and to obey God’s commandments as they attempted to re-settle Judah.

g. An assistant in the storehouses (Nehemiah 13:13)

Nehemiah 13:13 lists individuals whom Nehemiah assigned to assist in the distribution of tithes to the Levites. Hanan was one of those assistants.