Joshua begot Joiakim, Joiakim begot Eliashib, Eliashib begot Joiada, Joiada begot Jonathan, and Jonathan begot Jaddua. In fact, Josephus writes that Jaddua, who was the last of these, was the high priest in the time of Alexander the Great, and when Jaddua with his brethren met him, Alexander received him humbly and with honor. Josephus, who spells his name 'Jaddus', says that he was the father of the high priest Onias,1 who is mentioned in the Book of Maccabees.2 This is not to say that Nehemiah, the author of this book, could have lived right up to those times in the flesh, but that he knew Jaddua when he was an infant, and Jaddua could have reached the rank of the priesthood long after Nehemiah's death. For at the end of this book too mention is made of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib, to the effect that one of these was the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, though the name of this son-in-law is not recorded. But because this Joiada is the grandfather of Jaddua, it is clear that the son-in-law who is mentioned was either Jaddua's father or paternal uncle, and so he could have been born when Nehemiah was still alive.
