Jedaniah
Leader of the Judean community on the island of Elephantine in Egypt. The so-called Passover letter of 419/418 BC is addressed to him, and in 407 BC he and his fellow priests petitioned the governor of Judah to support the rebuilding of their temple.
Jedaniah is known from the Aramaic papyri found on Elephantine. A letter of the fifth year of Darius II, from one Hananiah, is addressed to Jedaniah and his colleagues, “the Jewish garrison” (Elephantine Passover letter recto 1, verso 4). In 407 BC the petition to Bagohi, governor of Judah, is sent in the name of Jedaniah and his colleagues, the priests at Elephantine, and of all the Jews of the place (Elephantine petition to Bagohi recto 1–4, verso 5–13).
A Jedaniah son of Gemariah stands first among five men who offer a payment if the temple is rebuilt and only incense and meal-offering are offered in it (Elephantine offer of payment lines 1–14). Cowley, who edited the papyri in 1923, took him for the same man (note on no. 33, line 1). See the temple at Elephantine.
In the timeline
- 410 BC to 407 BC, firm dateThe Judean Temple at Elephantine
Papyri from an island on Egypt’s southern border show a garrison of Judeans with a temple of their own. Egyptian priests and the local commander destroy it in 410 BC, and in 407 BC the community asks the governor of Judah to back its rebuilding.