Meaning
(1) A Levite, living in the time of Ezra (Ezr 8:33, Neh 10:9, Neh 12:8).
(2) One of the bene Pachath-mo'abh who had taken foreign wives (Ezr 10:30-Balnuus of Esdras 9:31) and one of the bene Bani (Ezr 10:38) who had also intermarried.
(3) The son of Henadad, who built part of the wall of Jerusalem (Ne 3:24), and sealed the covenant with Nehemiah (Ne 10:9). In all probability he is identical with "Bavvai, the son of Henadad" mentioned in Ne 3:18. "Bavvai" is either a corruption of "Binnui," or is the name of the Levitical house of which Bavvai was the chief representative. Binnui is mentioned in Ne 10:9 as a leading Levite, and, besides, the names in these verses are obviously those of priests and Levites; so the former theory is probably correct. (4) Head of a family who returned with Zerubbabel (Neh 7:15, Ezr 2:10).
H. J. Wolf
