Name, signifying “given, devoted ones,” applied to those who assisted the Levites in the service of the tabernacle and the temple. The name does not occur until 1 Chronicles 9:2, and afterward in Ezra and Nehemiah. The Gibeonites were made “hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar” (Josh. 9:27). These are not mentioned after 2 Samuel, so that they and their descendants may have been the “Nethinim.” It does not appear that God appointed them, as He did the Levites, but “David and the princes” appointed them “for the service of the Levites” (Ezra 8:20). Some of the Midianite captives were also given to the Levites (Num. 31:46-47). After the return from exile the Nethinim are called the “ministers of this house of God.” They were, along with the priests and Levites, exempt from “toll, tribute, or custom” (Ezra 7:24). A list of them is given in Ezra 2:43-54; Nehemiah 7: 46-56,60; Nehemiah 10:28.