Nethinim

Nethinim (or Nathinites or Nathineans) (, the given ones; οἱ Ναθανίμ, hoi Nathanim (Ezra 2:70; 7:7, 24; 8:17, 20; Neh 3:26; 7:46, 60, 73; 10:29); οἱ Ναθιναῖοι, hoi Nathinaioi (Ezra 2:43; Neh 11:3), ναθινιν (Ezra 2:58); οἱ δεδομένοι, hoi dedoménoi, (1 Chron 9:2) in the Septuagint, ἰερόδουλοι in Josephus (Ant. of the Jews, xi, i, 6); Nathinæi) was the name given to the Temple assistants in ancient Jerusalem. The term was applied originally in the Book of Joshua (where it is found in its verbal form) to the Gibeonites who converted during the time of Joshua, later in the Book of Ezra they include the Avdei Shlomo ("Servants of Solomon") the descendants of the remnant of the Canaanite people in the land.

They are mentioned at the return from the Exile and particularly enumerated in and  The original form of the name was Nethunim, as in the Khetib (consonantal reading) of  (cf. ), and means "given" or "dedicated," i.e. to the temple. The Talmud has also the singular form Nathin. In all, 612 Nethinim came back from the Exile and were lodged near the "House of the Nethinim " at Ophel, towards the east wall of Jerusalem so as to be near the Temple, where they served under the Levites and were free of all tolls, from which they must have been supported. It is mentioned that they had been ordered by David and the princes to serve the Levites.

Notwithstanding their sacred service, the Nethinim are placed in tables of precedence below mamzerim and in the Mishna it is stated that the prohibition against intermarriage with the Moabites, Ammonites, Egyptians and Edomites, though given in the Bible, only applied for a certain number of generations or did not apply at all to their daughters, but, it is added, "Mamzerim and Nethinim are prohibited (to marry Israelites), and this prohibition is perpetual and applies both to males and females."

A large majority of the names of the parents mentioned seem to be feminine in form or meaning, and suggest that the Nethinim could not trace back to any definite paternity; and this is confirmed by the fact that the lists are followed by the enumeration of those who could not "show their father's house".

Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses publications apply the term "Nethinim" to modern Christian elders serving in positions of responsibility immediately under the oversight of their Governing Body. Whereas they consider Governing Body members and other "anointed" Witnesses to be members of "the Israel of God" and "really Israel", the vast majority of Witnesses consider themselves personally associated with but not members of "spiritual Israel".