Nethinim (נְתִינִים nəṯīnīm, lit. "given ones", or "subjects"), or Nathinites or Nathineans, was the name given to the Temple assistants in ancient Jerusalem. The term was applied originally in the Book of Joshua (where it is found in its verbal form) to the Gibeonites.[1][a] Later, in the Book of Ezra, they are counted alongside the Avdei Shlomo ("Servants of Solomon"). It is likely that the Nethinim descended from non-Israelites.[2] Opinion is divided as to whether the Gibeonites in Joshua are to be connected to the Nethinim of later texts.[3] Others theorize that they were the descendants of Midianite war captives, as described in Numbers 31.[4]
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