Jehoiarib

Jehoiarib ( Yehōyārîḇ, "Yahweh contends") was the head of a family of priests, which was made the first of the twenty-four priestly divisions organized by King David (reigned c. 1000–962 BCE).

In Jewish tradition, Jehoiarib was the priestly course on duty when the Second Temple was destroyed by the Roman Imperial army in the second week of the lunar month Av, in 70 CE. Meron, in Galilee, is presumed to have been settled by surviving members of the priestly stock Jehoiarib in the third-fourth centuries, since the town is mentioned as being affiliated with Jehoiarib, as inscribed in the Caesarea Inscription. A Talmudic reference mentions the priestly course in derision for its role in the Temple's destruction: "Jehoiarib, a man of Meron, the town Masarbaye" , meaning, by a play on words, "he delivered" ( = masar), "the [Holy] house" ( = bayta) "unto the enemy" ( = le-senāyya).

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