NATANIA (Hebr. Nethanjah and Nethanjahu = “gift of Jahweh”). — Name of five Israelites.
I. Son of Elisama (Jer. 41:1) and father of Ismaele, the slayer of Godolia (2 Kgs 25:23, 25; Jer. 40:8, 14 ff.; 41:1–18); he was of royal lineage, of the tribe of Judah.
2. Son of Salathiel, one of the ancestors of Judith (Judg 8:1, Vulgate); in the Septuagint he is called Nathanael.
3. Son of Shelemiah and father of Iudi, among the princes of Judah (Jer. 36:14).
4. Third son of Asaph, a Temple musician contemporary with David; he was the head of the fifth division (1 Chr 25:2, 12).
5. One of the Levites sent by King Josaphat, together with two priests and five princes, to the cities of Judah to instruct the people in the Law (2 Chr 17:8).
BIBL.: M. Sales, La S. Bibbia, Vecchio Testamento, III, Turin 1924, pp. 235 ff., 310 ff., 364 ff.; IV, ibid. 1933, p. 164 ff.; A. Pohl, Historia populi Israel, Rome 1933, p. 161. Francesco Spadafora