Bilgah

Cheerful. (1.) The head of the fifteenth sacerdotal course for the temple service (1 Chr. 24:14). (2.) A priest who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Neh. 12:5, 18).

(first-born).

1. A priest in the time of David; the head of the fifteenth course for the temple service. (1 Chronicles 24:14) (B.C. 1015.)

2. A priest or priestly family who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel and Jeshua. (Nehemiah 12:5,18) (B.C. 536.)

bil'-ga bil'-ga-i (bilgah; bilgay, "cheerfulness"): A priest or priestly family in the time of the Return (Ne 12:5), and (under the form of "Bilgai," Ne 10:8) in the time of Nehemiah. According to 1Ch 24:14, Bilgah is the 15th of the 24 divisions of the priests who officiated in the Temple. In the Septuagint, the names read Belgai, Belga and Balgas. The traditional explanation of the name is "rejuvenation"; modern exegetes explain it as "cheerfulness."