KELAIAH

ke-la'-ya, ke-li'-a (qelayah, "swift for Yah"[?]; Kolios; Codex Vaticanus, Konos): One of the priests who had "foreign wives" (Ezra 10:23, also "Kelita"). In parallel list of 1 Esdras 9:23, he again has a double name--"Colius" and "Calitas." A "Kelita" is named as helping Ezra at the expounding of the law (Nehemiah 8:7; compare 1 Esdras 9:48, "Calitas"), and also among the signatories of the covenant (Nehemiah 10:9; for nature of covenant see Nehemiah 10:28 ff). They may not, however, be the same person.

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.