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Talmon

Old TestamentExile & ReturnMaleLevite

Talmon was a Levite gatekeeper who returned from Babylon and served at the temple.

Talmon illustration
Talmon

Biography

Talmon was a Levitical gatekeeper whose descendants returned from Babylonian captivity under Zerubbabel and resettled in Jerusalem following the edict of Cyrus. He is listed in the post-exilic census records of Ezra 2:42 and Nehemiah 7:45 as the head of a family of gatekeepers who numbered 139 individuals. Nehemiah 11:19 and 12:25 further attest to Talmon and his colleagues maintaining their appointed service at the city gates and temple storerooms during the restoration period.

As a gatekeeper, Talmon's family belonged to a hereditary Levitical order whose responsibilities included guarding the sacred precincts, regulating access to the sanctuary, and maintaining the integrity of worship in Jerusalem.

Significance

Talmon represents the faithful Levitical infrastructure that made Israel's post-exilic religious restoration possible. Gatekeepers like Talmon and his descendants were indispensable to the proper ordering of temple worship, without their vigilant service, the sanctity of the sacred precincts could not be maintained.

Their return from exile and recommitment to ancestral duties embodies the broader theme of restoration that runs through Ezra and Nehemiah: God's people reclaiming their identity, their land, and their worship after decades of displacement. Talmon's family thus illustrates that covenant renewal requires not only great leaders but faithful ordinary servants who tend the foundational structures of communal worship.

Authority Records

Verse Appearances (5)

References

  1. Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
  2. Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
  3. Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
  4. Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]

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