The Book of Ezra records Israel’s return to the land after the Babylonian exile. The first half deals with Zerubbabel’s return and its ramifications (Ezra 1–6) and the second half deals with Ezra’s return and its ramifications (Ezra 7–10). Chapter 7 has a decree by Artaxerxes that gives Ezra permission to return, chapter 8 records the return. Then in chapter 9, Ezra learns that Israel had been intermarrying with pagans and prays and chapter 10 shows how Ezra dealt with this sin. The Book of Nehemiah would have originally been part of the same volume, so chapter 10 would actually be part of a 23-chapter book, though the versification was not added until much later.
Tucked away in Ezra 10:6, there is a mention of Ezra paying a visit to someone that is often overlooked:
Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water; for he mourned because of the trespass of them of the captivity.
There are some difficulties in identifying who Jehohanan is, since Jehohanan and Eliashib were not uncommon names (1 Chron. 3:24; 24:12; 26:3; 2 Chron. 17:15; 23:1; 28:12). One possibility is that Jehohanan was the son of one of the Eliashibs who are listed as having foreign wives (Ezra 10:24, 27) and Ezra knew that he would be sent away because of the decree, so he went to his chamber to mourn with him before sending him away. This possibility would fit well in the immediate context of chapter 10.
Another possibility is that this is Jehohanan who would eventually become the High Priest. There was a High Priest named Eliashib who is mentioned during Nehemiah’s tenure (Neh. 3:1; 13:28) and the Elephantine papyri mention a Jehohanan, who was the High Priest in Jerusalem in the month of Tammuz in the 14th year of Darius II (June/July 410 B.C.),1 which would have been over 48 years after Ezra’s return. It seems that the Eliashib of Nehemiah had a grandson named Jehohanan (Neh. 12:10–11, 22), though the spelling in Nehemiah 12 is a bit different from Jehohanan (yəhôchânân יְהוֹחָנָן) here in Ezra 10:6. Names did not always have singular standardized spellings and in Nehemiah 12:11, Eliashib’s grandson’s name is written Jonathan (yônâthân יוֹנָתָן) and in verse 22, there is a Levite who is affiliated with Eliashib whose name is written Johanan (yôchânân יוֹחָנָן). Some Greek may be helpful. The Septuagint has the two names Jehohanan and Jehohanan (Ezra 10:6; Neh. 12:22) as Iōanàn (Ἰωανὰν), while Jonathan (Neh. 12:11) is Iōnáthan (Ἰωνάθαν). 1 Esdras renders Jehohanan as Iōanàn2and Josephus has Iōannēs (Ἰωάννης).3 These names are all similar and at times interchangeable, so they could all be describing the same person. Perhaps Ezra’s affinity for Aramaic contributed to his preference for the Aramaic spelling that is found in Elephantine. Ezra eventually compiled the entire Ezra-Nehemiah volume during the reign of Darius (Neh. 12:22), so Jehohanan the High Priest probably would have been active, and if the identification with Eliashib is correct, then the original audience would have connected the dots quite easily.
If Jehohanan son of Eliashib is to be identified with the future High Priest, then some light is shed on Ezra’s visit. Ezra and Jehohanan would have been younger men at the time, but both would have significant contributions to make when they are older, Jehohanan would serve as a High Priest and Ezra would eventually compile Ezra-Nehemiah under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. As Ezra chronicled Ezra-Nehemiah, he would have known that this Jehohanan would have significance to his audience, so he included this visit. The Book of Nehemiah features another problem with foreign wives. In the final verses, Nehemiah chases away “one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest” because he “was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite” (Neh. 13:28). Jehohanan was a also a son of Joiada, son of Eliashib, so it could be intermarriage that disqualified Jehohanan’s brother from the office High Priest. At any rate, Ezra’s inclusion of his visit to a mourning Jehohanan demonstrates this High Priest’s character of repentance long before he came into office, so when the narrative of the Hebrew Bible leaves off with Jehohanan as High Priest, the priesthood is in good hands.