Meunim is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
The Meunim were a group of people who lived in the territory of Judah and are named in the list of those who returned from exile in Jerusalem. In Nehemiah 7:52, they appear among the families registered after the Babylonian captivity: “The children of Besai, the children of Meunim, the children of Nephishesim.” The name here functions as a family or clan heading, “the children of Meunim,” meaning those descended from or associated with this group. The source note identifies them simply as a people who lived in the territory of Judah, counted among the returned exiles.
This single appearance in the King James Bible places the Meunim within the larger registry of returned exiles that Nehemiah recorded. The list served a practical purpose: it documented who had come back to rebuild Jerusalem and reestablish worship and community life in the land. The Meunim were part of that returning remnant, numbered alongside other families and clans. Scripture records nothing further about their specific deeds, occupations, or individual members. They did not perform a dramatic act, nor is any failure or triumph attributed to them.
What Scripture says of them is simply that they were there—counted, named, and included among those who came home. Their significance lies in their presence in the record, not in any exploit. They were one small thread in the fabric of a restored people, and the text preserves their name as part of the evidence that God brought His people back to their land.
The Name
The name “Meunim” is generally understood to be connected with a Hebrew root relating to dwelling or habitation, and some connect it with the Meunites, a people associated with the region of Maon or with the broader area of Edom and Judah. The meaning is not fully certain, and scholars differ on the exact derivation. What can be said plainly is that the name appears to identify a people group or clan rather than to carry a clear, settled definition in the way some Hebrew names do. It is best described as a designation of a people, with its precise etymology not clearly recoverable.
A Closing Thought
The Meunim are easy to overlook. They appear once, in a long list of names, with no story attached. Yet their inclusion is quietly meaningful. When God restored His people, He did not bring back only the famous and the prominent; He brought back whole families, ordinary clans, people whose names we would otherwise never know. The Meunim remind us that being counted among God’s people is itself a gift. You do not need a dramatic story to belong to His remnant. To be named, remembered, and brought home is grace enough.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- Nehemiah 7:52 — The children of Besai, the children of Meunim, the children of Nephishesim,