MELCHIA (Hebr. Malkijjah[ü] “my king is Yahweh”).—Name of several figures of the Old Testament.
1. Priest, a zealous collaborator of Nehemiah in the reconstruction of Jerusalem (Neh. 3:11), but married to a foreign woman (Ezr. 3:31).
2. Reformer together with Ezra (Neh. 8:4).
3. Father of Phasur, the adversary of Jeremiah (Jer. 21:1; 38:1).
4. Son of the king, that is, of royal descent, in whose cistern Jeremiah was thrown (Jer. 38:6).
Other figures bearing the same name, some of whom might be identified with one of those mentioned above, occur in I Chron. 6:25; 9:12; 24:9; Ezr. 10:25; Neh. 3:14, 31; 10:4; 11:12; 12:42. Angelo Penna