Person Old Testament
Tobiah
Tobiah was an ancestor of some returned exiles who were unable to prove their Israelite lineage and were excluded from the priesthood. Mentioned in 2 verses across 2 books, first at Ezra 2:60.
Why it matters. Ancestor of returned exiles unable to prove lineage
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Tobiah
Tobiah is mentioned in Ezr.2.60 and Neh.7.62 as an ancestor of some of the returned exiles from Babylon who were unable to prove their Israelite lineage. These individuals were among the descendants of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda, who sought to be registered as priests but were excluded because their names could not be found in the genealogical records. As a result, they were considered unclean and disqualified from serving as priests. The mention of Tobiah in this context highlights the importance of genealogical records in determining priestly eligibility and the challenges faced by some returning exiles in establishing their Israelite identity.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
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Appears in Scripture
Named in 2 verses across 2 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.