REHUM re’ həm (רְח֣וּם or רְחֻ֖ם; LXX ̔Ρεόυμ, meaning merciful). 1. The name of one of the leaders in the return from the Exile with Zerubbabel recorded in Ezra 2:2 (1 Esdras 5:8 reads ROIMUS). The parallel passage in Nehemiah 7:7 reads NEHUM, which appears to be a transcriptional error.

2. The name of a Pers. officer who coauthored a letter to Artaxerxes opposing the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple (Ezra 4:7-24). When a favorable reply came, “Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates...went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease” (v. 23; cf. 1 Esd 2:16-30 where the name is RATHUMUS).

3. The name of a Levite, the son of Bani, who helped Nehemiah repair the wall of Jerusalem (Neh 3:17).

4. The name of one of those who set the seal to the “firm covenant” of Nehemiah (Neh 10:25). He may be the same man as the Rehum of Nehemiah 3:17 or related to the Rehum in Ezra 2:2.

5. The name of one of the priests listed in Nehemiah 12:1-7 who came with Zerubbabel. Comparison with Nehemiah 12:15 and 1 Chronicles 24:8 has led some to understand this as a miswriting of Harim. In the consonantal text, that change could be effected by transposing the first two letters. The LXX omits the name altogether.