Hananiah

Also known as: Hananiah the prophet / the prophet Hananiah · Family: Gibeon · Role: prophet · First appears: Jeremiah 28

Hananiah was a prophet of Gibeon and the son of Azur. In Jeremiah 28, at the house of the LORD, he took the wooden yoke from Jeremiah’s neck and broke it. God then declared through Jeremiah that Hananiah had not been sent and had taught the people to trust in a lie; he was sentenced to die that year and died in the seventh month.

Hananiah is also named as the father of Zedekiah, and as the father of Shelemiah, whose son was Irijah. In Daniel 1, Hananiah was among the four youths placed under Ashpenaz and Melzar, and Ashpenaz gave him the Babylonian name Shadrach. God gave him and Daniel, Mishael, and Azariah knowledge and skill in learning and wisdom; they entered Nebuchadnezzar’s service and were judged ten times better than the wise men of Babylon.

In Daniel 2, Hananiah was Daniel’s companion when Nebuchadnezzar ordered the wise men of Babylon to be slain.