1599. Ginnethon or Ginnethoy

Lexical Summary

Ginnethon or Ginnethoy: Ginnethon

Original Word: גִּנְּתוֹן
Part of Speech: Proper Name Masculine
Transliteration: Ginnthown
Pronunciation: gin-ne-thone'
Phonetic Spelling: (ghin-neth-one)
KJV: Ginnetho, Ginnethon
NASB: Ginnethon, Ginnethoi
Word Origin: [from H1598 (גָּנַן - defend)]

1. gardener
2. Ginnethon or Ginnetho, an Israelite

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

Ginnetho, Ginnethon

Or Ginnthow {ghin-neth-o'}; from ganan; gardener; Ginnethon or Ginnetho, an Israelite -- Ginnetho, Ginnethon.

see HEBREW ganan

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from ganan
Definition
an Isr. priest
NASB Translation
Ginnethoi (1), Ginnethon (2).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

גִּנְּתוֺי Nehemiah 12:4 #NAME?

גִּנְּתוֺן proper name, masculine a priest among the returned exiles Nehemiah 10:7; Nehemiah 12:16 compare foregoing.

Topical Lexicon

Biblical setting

Ginnethon designates a priestly family that re-emerged with the first returnees from Babylon and continued to serve through the restoration period recorded in Ezra–Nehemiah. All three scriptural occurrences appear inside Nehemiah’s historical memoirs, covering roughly 538–433 BC, the era in which the altar, temple and walls were successively rebuilt and public worship re-ordered.

Occurrences

1. Nehemiah 12:4 places Ginnethon among the twenty-two priestly heads who “came up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and with Jeshua”.
2. Nehemiah 10:6 lists Ginnethon among the priests who sealed the covenant of national repentance after the wall-building.
3. Nehemiah 12:16 notes that, in the next generation (the high-priesthood of Joiakim), “for Ginnethon, Meshullam” was the family representative, confirming continuity of service.

Priestly lineage and service

The three passages chart three successive stages:
• Initial resettlement (Nehemiah 12:1-7). The new community deliberately re-established the twenty-four ancient priestly divisions (compare 1 Chronicles 24). Placing Ginnethon in that list testifies that this house claimed authentic Aaronic descent and therefore legitimate right to temple duties.
• Covenant ratification (Nehemiah 9–10). Generation two vowed to walk in the Law, tithe faithfully and guard temple holiness. By sealing the document, Ginnethon’s leader bound his household to public obedience—an example of priestly accountability that matched teaching with personal submission.
• Ongoing oversight (Nehemiah 12:12-21). The registry under Joiakim confirms that the Ginnethon house passed its responsibility on; Meshullam’s name shows succession, guarding purity of lineage for future ministry. That attention to pedigree protected Israel from the syncretism that had plagued the pre-exilic priesthood and ensured worship conformed to the Mosaic pattern.

Role in the covenant renewal under Nehemiah

Priestly names head the covenant list because priests stood as mediators of the Law (Malachi 2:7). Ginnethon’s signature therefore models leadership repentance. Their inclusion also silences later critics who might claim the reforms were purely lay-driven; both priesthood and laity united around Scripture, making reformation corporate and authoritative.

Continuity of priestly households

Nehemiah 12 twice revisits the same roster, first at the time of Zerubbabel, then a generation later. The placement of Ginnethon on both lists under different household representatives underscores:
• Fidelity across decades, illustrating how covenant faithfulness is measured not merely by a moment of zeal but by generational perseverance.
• The necessity of recorded genealogies for temple service (Ezra 2:61–62). Post-exilic Israel guarded priestly purity so carefully that those unable to prove descent were excluded from the altar until a priest could consult Urim and Thummim. Ginnethon’s repeated registration witnesses that they passed the scrutiny.

Spiritual themes and ministry principles

1. Partnership in restoration. God’s plan after exile required builders, governors, Levites and priests alike. Ginnethon’s family demonstrates that worship and civil reconstruction advance together (see Haggai 2:4–9).
2. Leadership by example. By publicly sealing the covenant, the Ginnethon head modeled the confession later echoed in 1 John 1:9: sin must be named before God’s cleansing is enjoyed.
3. Generational discipleship. Meshullam’s succession (Nehemiah 12:16) reminds readers that spiritual heritage is to be handed down intact (2 Timothy 2:2).
4. The reliability of Scripture. That such minor names resurface in precise chronological order underscores the historical accuracy of the biblical record and God’s concern for every servant (compare Psalm 87:6).

Intertextual connections

• The priestly division probably corresponds to the sixteenth course “Happizzez” or seventeenth “Hezir” (1 Chronicles 24), though the text does not identify it explicitly.
• Malachi, a contemporary, rebuked priests for corrupt teaching (Malachi 2:1–9). The faithful witness of families like Ginnethon shows that even in times of widespread failure God preserved a remnant of obedient leaders.
• The covenant lists in Nehemiah anticipate New Testament rolls such as the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1, illustrating God’s sovereign preservation of lineage to fulfill His promises.

Contemporary application

Pastors, elders and ministry families today can find in Ginnethon a pattern of:
• Standing visibly with God’s people in repentance and obedience.
• Caring about doctrinal and ethical integrity as much as external achievements.
• Investing in successors who will guard the gospel when the present generation has passed.

Ginnethon’s brief but deliberate appearances remind readers that every servant recorded in Scripture—whether prominently like Ezra or scarcely beyond a name—contributes to God’s unfolding redemptive plan and will not be forgotten in His book of remembrance (Malachi 3:16).

Forms and Transliterations

גִּנְּת֖וֹן גִנְּת֖וֹי גנתוי גנתון לְגִנְּת֥וֹן לגנתון ḡin·nə·ṯō·w gin·nə·ṯō·wn ginneTo ginneTon ḡinnəṯōw ginnəṯōwn lə·ḡin·nə·ṯō·wn leginneTon ləḡinnəṯōwn

Englishman's Concordance

Nehemiah 10:6
HEB: דָּנִיֵּ֥אל גִּנְּת֖וֹן בָּרֽוּךְ׃
NAS: Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
KJV: Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
INT: Daniel Ginnethon Baruch

Nehemiah 12:4
HEB: עִדּ֥וֹא גִנְּת֖וֹי אֲבִיָּֽה׃
NAS: Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah,
KJV: Iddo, Ginnetho, Abijah,
INT: Iddo Ginnethoi Abijah

Nehemiah 12:16
HEB: ק) זְכַרְיָ֖ה לְגִנְּת֥וֹן מְשֻׁלָּֽם׃
NAS: Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam;
KJV: Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam;
INT: Iddo Zechariah of Ginnethon Meshullam

3 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 1599
3 Occurrences

ḡin·nə·ṯō·w — 1 Occ.
gin·nə·ṯō·wn — 1 Occ.
lə·ḡin·nə·ṯō·wn — 1 Occ.