HANANI (Hebrew: Hānānī). - 1. A prophet who reproached King Asa for his lack of trust in God when, against Baasha king of Israel (910–887), he invoked the aid of Benhadad, king of Damascus. Asa, angered, had him imprisoned (II Par. 16, 7-10). He was probably the father of the prophet Jehu (I Reg. 16, 1-7; II Par. 19, 2; 20, 34).
2. Four other Israelites of the Old Testament. A Levite, son of Heman, head of the 18th class of singers (I Par. 25, 4-25). A priest, son of Immer, who sent away into exile the foreign woman he had married (Esd. 10, 20). A brother of Nehemiah, to whom the latter entrusted the government of Jerusalem (Neh. 1, 2; 7, 2). A priest who took part in the dedication of the walls of Jerusalem (Nah. 12, 55).
BIBL.: E. Tobac-J. Coppens, Les prophètes d'Israël, I, 2nd ed., Malines 1932, p. 142; A. Vaccari, La S. Bibbia, III, Florence 1948, pp. 119, 125, 199 ff., 212, 225 ff.; A. Médebielle, Esdras-Néhemie (La Ste Bible, ed. L. Pirot, 4), Paris 1949, pp. 176, 327 ff., 358. Francesco Spadafora