MELCHIA (Hebrew Malkijjāh[n] = “my king is Jahweh”). — Name of several personages in the Old Testament.
1. A priest, zealous coadjutor of Nehemiah in the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Neh 3:11), but united in marriage to a foreign woman (Ezra 3:31).
2. A reformer together with Ezra (Neh 8:4).
3. Father of Pashhur, the adversary of Jeremiah (Jer 21:1; 38:1).
4. A “son of the king,” i.e., of royal lineage, in whose cistern Jeremiah was cast (Jer 38:6).
Other homonymous personages, some of whom may be identified with those above, occur in 1 Chron 6:25; 9:12; 24:9; Ezra 10:25; Neh 3:14, 31; 10:4; 11:12; 12:42.