XXmat-a-ni-a (mattanyaha, "gift of Yah"):
(1) King Zedekiahs original name, but changed by Nebuchadnezzar when he made him king over Judah instead of his nephew Jehoiachin (2 Ki 24:17).
(2) A descendant of Asaph (1 Ch 9:15), leader of the temple choir (Neh 11:17; 12:8). Mentioned among the "porters," keepers of "the storehouses of the gates" (Neh 12:25), and again in Neh 12:35 as among the "priests sons with trumpets."
(3) May be the same as (2), though in 2 Ch 20:14 he is mentioned as an ancestor of that Jahaziel whose inspired words in the midst of the congregation encouraged Jehoshaphat to withstand the invasion of Moab, Ammon and Seir (20:14 ff).
(4-7) Four others who had foreign wives, (a) the Matthanias of 1 Esdras 9:27 (Ezr 10:26); (b) the Othonias of 1 Esdras 9:28 (Ezr 10:27); (c) the Matthanias of 1 Esdras 9:31 (Ezr 10:30); (d) the fourth of these in 1 Esdras 9:34 the King James Version has had his name blended into that of Mattenai, and the two appear as the composite name Mamnitanemus (Ezr 10:37). He is a son of Bani.
(8) A Levite, father of Zaccur, ancestor of Hanan the under-treasurer of the Levitical offerings under Nehemiah (Neh 13:13).
(9) One of the sons of Heman the singer, whose office it was to blow the horns in the temple-service as David had appointed it (1 Ch 25:4,5). He was head of the 9th division of the 12 Levites (1 Ch 25:16), who were proficient in the Songs of Yahweh (1 Ch 25:7).
(10) One of the sons of Asaph who helped Hezekiah in the fulfilling of his vow to cleanse the house of the Lord (2 Ch 29:13).
Henry Wallace