Jozabad
Jozabad was one of the Levites who had married foreign women during the time of Ezra and agreed to put them away.
Biography
This Jozabad was a Levite listed among those who had married foreign women during the post-exilic period and subsequently agreed to dissolve those marriages in compliance with Ezra's covenant reform (Ezra 10:23). He is included in a register of Levites, alongside Kelita, Shimei, and others, who made this pledge at the assembly convened by Ezra to address what the returning community perceived as a grave theological threat to its covenant identity. That Levites were among the offenders is particularly significant, since this order bore special responsibility for teaching and modeling covenant faithfulness to the wider community. His compliance reflected both personal sacrifice and institutional accountability.
Significance
The inclusion of Levites in Ezra's list of those who had intermarried highlights that no station within the covenant community exempts one from accountability to God's standards. Those entrusted with teaching and leading the people of God are held to the same, and indeed higher, standard of covenant fidelity. Jozabad's situation illustrates that genuine repentance and reform within a community must include its spiritual leaders if it is to have lasting credibility and effect. His willingness to comply with the difficult demands of community renewal models the kind of costly obedience that authentic institutional reformation requires.
Verse Appearances (1)
Ezra
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]