DINEI (Aram. dinājē; Volg. Dinaei). — In Esd. 4:9 they are mentioned in the list of exiles from Babylon, Susa, etc., transplanted by the Assyrian kings to Samaria (v. APARSACHEI). According to some, they would have been a class of state officials, that is, judges (Aram. dajānā — judge —). The ancients regarded the term D. as the name of a population.
BIBL.: A. Ungnad, Aram. Papyrys aux Elephantine, Lipsia 1911, p. 9. Eugenio Zolli