Je'iel (A descendant of Adonikam who went up from Babylon with Ezra)
A descendant of Adonikam who returned from exile
The returnLeaderc. 450 BC
Je'iel was a descendant of Adonikam among the last to go up from Babylon to Jerusalem with Ezra. He is mentioned in the book of Ezra as part of the second wave of returning exiles during the reign of King Artaxerxes. His return was part of God's plan to rebuild the Jewish community in Judah.
Ezra gathered the returnees by the river that flows to Ahava, where they prepared for the journey to Jerusalem. Je'iel was among those who gathered there.
15I assembled them at the river that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there three days. When I reviewed the people and the priests, I found no Levites among them.
16So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight.
17I sent them to Iddo, the leader at the place called Casiphia, and I told them what to say to Iddo and his kinsmen, the temple servants at Casiphia—that they should bring us ministers for the house of our God.
Ezra proclaimed a fast at the Ahava River to seek God's protection on the dangerous journey to Jerusalem, which Je'iel participated in as part of the caravan.
21There by the Ahava River I proclaimed a fast, that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our possessions.
22I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies along the way, since we had told him, "The hand of our God is upon all who seek him, for good; but his power and his anger are against all who forsake him."
31On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava River to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was upon us, and he protected us from enemies and from bandits along the way.
33On the fourth day the silver, the gold, and the vessels were weighed out in the house of our God into the hands of Meremoth son of Uriah the priest, and with him Eleazar son of Phinehas, and with them the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.
Adonikam's descendants are also mentioned among those who returned earlier with Zerubbabel, showing the family's long-standing connection to the return.