Pochereth-hazzebaim

Biography

Pochereth-hazzebaim (also rendered Pochereth of Zebaim) was the ancestor of a family listed among the descendants of Solomon's servants who returned from Babylonian exile to Jerusalem and Judah. This family is recorded in both Ezra 2:57 and Nehemiah 7:59, where identical lists catalog the returning exiles by their ancestral families.

Solomon's servants were a distinct class of temple functionaries originally established during Solomon's reign to assist the Levites in temple service, likely composed of non-Israelite laborers conscripted for permanent temple duties (1 Kings 9:20-21). The name Pochereth-hazzebaim, meaning "gazelle hunter" or "binder of gazelles," suggests the family's original occupation may have involved procuring animals for sacrificial or royal use.

The family's return from exile demonstrated their enduring connection to the temple and its service across generations of displacement.

Significance

Pochereth-hazzebaim's family represents the remarkable continuity of institutional memory and identity through the catastrophe of exile. That descendants of Solomon's servants maintained their distinct identity through seventy years of Babylonian captivity and chose to return to Jerusalem testifies to the enduring pull of temple service and covenant belonging.

Their inclusion in the return lists of Ezra and Nehemiah shows that the restored community valued every legitimate role in temple worship, not only the priests and Levites but also the support personnel who made the temple function. This family's story illustrates the biblical principle that faithful service in seemingly minor roles contributes to the larger work of God's kingdom and is remembered across generations.