We hear but little concerning the Nethinim subsequently to this period. It is easy to trace the gradual incorporation of the singers and the doorkeepers with the Levites. It is practically certain that the Nethinim, who are so often men- tioned immediately after these two classes, obtained the same privilege. In the post-exilic legislation the Levites alone are mentioned, and almost take the name Nethinim. Nu 38° 18° (both P) state thas
NETOPHAH
520
the Levites were ovpn; o'pn; to Aaron and his sons. And 1 Ch 655 (Heb.) ὦ (Bng.) ἢ
were o'7n) ‘for all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God.’ Cf. also 1 Es 15 τοῖς Aevelrais, ἱεροδούλοις τοῦ ᾿Ι[σραήλ. Ezekiel’s reform is thus at last carried out in the letter, verhaps in the spirit also, Schiirer (GJV® ii. 279 (HJP m1. i. 273)) has shown, that although the Talmudical writers fre- quently refer to the Nethinim, they exhibit no real sense of the existence and activity of such an order, for they ascribe the performance of the duties which ‘once devolved on this order to another set of men altogether, the oy or the 77> 092, the young sons of the priests. The name Nethinim supplies an object on which these writers may pour out their bitterness against ie ota that is not strictly Jewish. ‘Ezra removed them as it is said (Neh 11”); the servants dwell in dark- ness, and in the world to come God will put them away from Him, according to the words Ezk 48": the servants of the city shall serve Him’ (Kiddush. iv. 1); ‘a priest is before a Levite, a Levite before an Israelite, an Israelite before a Mamzer, a Mamzer before a Nathin, a Nathin before a proselyte, a proselyte before a manumitted slave’ | (Hora. iii. 8). At Jebam. ii. 4, an Israelite is | forbidden to marry a descendant of those devoted to the temple service, and this is grounded on 25 21%, Such passages as Jebam. vi. 2, vii. 5, | viii. 3, Maccoth iii. 1, Kethub. i. 8, iii. 1, Kid- dush. iii. 12, may also be consulted.
Similar institutions have existed in other lands, both in ancient and in modern times. Hermann (Lehrb. der Griech, Antiq.? Theil 2, p. 107) points out that it was as natural for a temple as for an individual to possess slaves who would perform the lower duties which were necessary daily. In a note he refers to Pausan. x. 32. 8, τοῦ θεοῦ δοῦλοι ; and v. 13, 2, ἐστὶ δὲ ὁ ξυλεὺς ἐκ τῶν οἰκετῶν τοῦ Διός, ἔργον δὲ αὐτῷ πρόκειται τὰ ἐς τὰς θυσίας ξύλα τεταγμένου λήμματος καὶ πόλεσι παρέχειν καὶ ἀνδρὶ ἰδιώτῃ. In proof that these slaves were captives taken in war, or persons bought with money, he points to Pausan. iii. 18. 3, and to Herod. vi. 134: in the latter place an αἰχμάλωτος γύνη is called ὑποζάκωρος τῶν χθονίων θεῶν. Burckhardt (Τγαυεῖς in Arabia, i. 288 ff.) says that the employment of slaves or eunuchs in the mosque at Mecca is of very ancient date, Moawya Ibn Abi Sofyan, a short time after Mohammed, having ordered slaves for the Kaaba. ‘The ennuchs perform the duty of police officers in the temple; they prevent dis- orders, and daily wash and Sweep, with large brooms, the pavement round the Kaaba... . The number of eunuchs never exceeds forty, and they are supplied by pashas and other grandees, who send them, when oung, as presents to the mosque: one hundred dollars are sent with each as an outfit. Mohammed Aly presented ten young eunuchs to the mosque.’ See, urther, art. PRIESTS AND LEVITEs.
LivgRaTuRR.—There is an excellent brief account of the Nethinim in Ryle’s Ezra and Neh to that Commen . Dictionary, p. 160, gives the lists of Ezr, Neh, and 1 Es; but the spelling of the names j i attention. not stand alone, holds that all the OT passages which mention the Nethinim are from the Chronicler, whom he considers quite unreliable. See his Composition, etc., of Ezra-Nehemiah, p. 17. The reader may consult also Bertholet, Die Stellung der Lar. u. der Juden zu den Fremden, pp. 62, 133, 342.
J. TAYtor. NETOPHAH (7563; in Ezr B Νετωφά, A Negwrd ; in Neh B omits, A ᾿Ανετωφά, καὶ Νετωφά ; in 1 Es B | NeréBas, A Νετωφαέ ; Vulg. Netupha).—A town, | the name of which first occurs in the list of the exiles who returned under Zerubbabel (Ezr 22 = Neh 7%=1 Es 5"). Owing to its position in this list between Bethlehem and Anathoth, it has been
iba
eclares that the Levites
NETTLE
argued that Netophah must have lain somewhere to the south of Jerusalem, between the capital and Bethlehem, and is to be identified with Khurbet umm-Toba. More probable is the view that the name Netophah is still preserved in the modern Beit Nettif at the entrance to the Wad es-Sunt or Vale of Elah; the Meo of Beth Netophah, which is mentioned in the Mishna (Shebiith ix. 5), will then correspond to that part of the Wady en-Najil which connects the ady es-Sunt and the Wady es-Surar (Guérin, Jud. in 374 1f. ; PEF Mem. iii. 24 ; Neubauer, Géogr. p. 128; Buhl, GAP p. 194). :
Netophah was the birthplace of two of David’s heroes, Maharai and Heldai (2 S 9338. 39), and also of Seraiah, one of the captains who supported Gedaliah (2 K 25%, Jer 408 [EpHar)): accor ing to 1 Ch 915 it was a priestly city, inhabited by singers (Neh 12%). Hence the Gentilic name the Neto- phathite(s) (‘nobj7; 2S B ὁ ᾿Ἐντωφατείτης, A ὁ Νεπωφαθείτης ; 2K Β ὁ Νεφφαθιείτης, A ὁ Νεθωφα- θείτης ; 1 ΟἿ Β ὁ Νεθωφατεί. .. ὁ Νετωφατεί, A Νετω- φαθί (δὲ5), κὶ ὁ Νοτωφαθεί, . . Νετωφαθεί ; in Neh 1938 B omits, ἃ Νετωφαθὶ). J. Ε΄ ΒΤΕΝΝΙΝα.