EMAN (Heb. Hémán). - 1. One (Vulg. Heman) of the 4 sages inferior to Salomone. He was, like Chalcol and Dorda, a son of Mahol (metathesis for Hamul: I Par. 2, 5), in I Reg. 4, 31 (Septuagint 4, 27; Heb. 5, 11); but in I Par. 2, 6 he is said, like Ethan, to be a son of Zara of the tribe of Giuda.
2. Levite, son of Ioel, of the lineage of Core; he appears to be distinct from the preceding one. Head of a group of singers, first at Gabaon and then in the Temple, between the choir of Ethan on his left and that of Asaph on his right: I Par. 6, 18; 15, 17, 19; 16, 41 (to be corrected to 16, 42); 25, 1. 4-6. 39. 44. He is called David’s “prophet” (házah) for song (I Par. 25, 4 sg.), in the sense of a man consecrated to divine worship (cf. I Sam. 10, 5). He had 14 sons and 3 daughters: I Par. 25, 4 sg. With his choir he took part in the dedication of Salomone’s Temple (II Par. 5, 12).
We encounter singers descended from him in the time of Ezechia and of Iosia: II Par. 29, 14; 35, 15.
Ps. 87 (88) is attributed by the text to E. the Ezrahite, as though the E. of § 1 and the Levite were one and the same person, as many exegetes consequently hold (L. Desnoyers, etc.). But the text is not entirely certain, nor does it exclude other explanations.