EMAN (Heb. Hēmān). - 1. One (Vulg. Heman) of the 4 sages inferior to Solomon. He was the son, like Chalcol and Darda, of Mahol (metathesis for Hamul: 1 Chron. 2:5), in 1 Kings 4:31 (Septuagint 4:27; Heb. 5:11); but in 1 Chron. 2:6 he is called, like Ethan, the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah.

2. A Levite, son of Joel, of the stock of Korah; he seems distinct from the preceding. Head of a group of singers, first at Gibeon and then in the Temple between the choir of Ethan on his left and that of Asaph on his right: 1 Chron. 6:18; 15:17, 19; 16:41 (to be corrected to 16:42); 25:1, 4-6, 39, 44. He is called a "prophet" (házah) of David for singing (1 Chron. 25:4 ff.), in the sense of a man consecrated to divine worship (cf. 1 Sam. 10:5). He had 14 sons and 3 daughters: 1 Chron. 25:4 ff. With his choir he took part in the dedication of Solomon's Temple (2 Chron. 5:12).

We encounter singers who were his descendants in the time of Hezekiah and of Josiah: 2 Chron. 29:14; 35:15.

Ps. 87 (88) is attributed by the text to E. the Ezrahite, as if E. of § 1 and the Levite were one and the same person, as many exegetes accordingly hold (L. Desnoyers, etc.). But the text is not entirely certain, nor does it exclude other explanations.

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: R. Kittel, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, II, 5th ed., Stuttgart 1922, pp. 138-211; L. Desnoyers, Histoire du peuple hébreux, III, Paris 1930, pp. 133, n. 1; 160, n. 3; F. Zorell, Psalterium, 2nd ed., Rome 1930, p. 423; id., Lexicon hebraicum, ibid. 1940 suppl., p. 100; A. Vaccari, La S. Bibbia, III, Florence 1948, p. 10.

Francesco Spadafora

@incollection{ec5_eman_ebr_heman, author = {Spadafora, Francesco}, title = {Eman (Ebr. Hémán)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {V}, pages = {268}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/eman-ebr-heman} }

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