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Shahgar – Shemaah
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Shahgar
Shahgar smote 600 Philistines with an ox-goad (). There is no mention of his judging Israel, or of the duration of his influence. The exploit belongs to the latest redaction of the book; continues the story of . Nothing is known of any Philistine dominion at so early a period, and in some Gr. MSS the verse follows . His exploit resembles that of Shammah In (cf. ), and may have been attached to him as an expansion of the reference in the song of Deborah (). There, however, he appears to be a foreign oppressor, and the connexion of the two passages is obscure, the song having to do with Canaanite oppressionin the North. The name is foreign, Hittite or Assyrian. He is the ‘son of Anath.’ Anati occurs in the Tell el- Amarna tablets, and Anatu is an Assyr. goddess, traces of whose worship are found in Egypt, Phoenicia, and Syria (cf . place-names Beth-anath [), Beth-anoth [)). The names are important as showing Babylonian influence after the period of the Tell-el-Amarna tablets. C. W. Emmet.
Shamhuth
See Shammah, 4.
Shamir
1. A Kohathite (). 2. A town in the hill-country of Judah (). It is perhaps Khwrbet SSmerah, west of DebU. 3. The home and burial-place of Tola (). The site Is uncertain.
Shamlai
See Salmai.
Shamma
An Asherite ().
Shammah
1. Son of Reuel, son of Esau, a tribal chief (). 2. Third son of Jesse, present when Samuel sought a successor to Saul ()) with Saul in the battlefield when David visited the camp (). He is the same as Shimeah, father of Jonadab (), the Shimea of , and the Shimei, father of Jonathan who slew the giant (). In Jonathan is called son of Shimea. 3. Son of Agee, a Hararite, one of the three mighty men of David. Alone he held the field against the Philistines (). The parallel passage, f.; wrongly attributes the feat to Eleazar. He is probably identical with ‘Shammah, the Harodite’ (Hararite) of . V." should read ‘Jonathan son of Shammah, the Hararite.’ In , ‘son of Shage’ Is probably confused with ‘son of Agee.’ Read, with Lucian, ‘son of Jonathan.’ Shimei, son of Ela (), should also appear here if we accept Lucian’s reading of ‘Ela’ for ‘Agee’ (). 4. An officer in David’s employ, called Shammoth in , and Shamhuth in . Probably the same as No. 3.
J. H. Stevenson. SHAMMAI.— 1. A Jerahmeelite (). 2. The ‘son’ of Rekem and ‘father’ of Maon ( f.). 3. A Judahite ().
Shammoth
See Shammah, 4.
Shammua
1. The Reubenite spy (). 2. One of David’s sons (, ; called in Shimea). 3. A Levite () = Shemaiah of . 4. The head of a priestly family ().
Shamsherai
A Benjamite ().
Shapham
A Gadite ().
Shaphan
Shaphan (‘coney’ or ‘rock-badger’; an old totem clan-name — so W. R. Smith). — 1. ‘The scribe’ (secretary of state) of Josiah in 621 b.c, ‘son of Azaliah,’ who laid before the king the law-book discovered by Hilkiah (wh. see) in the Temple ( =2 Ch 34). Shaphan appears to have been the chief lay leader in the execution of Josiah’s reforms. His family for two following generations played a worthy part as servants of Jehovah, and friends of the prophet Jeremiah: the Ahikam of ( = ) and , the Gemariah of , and Elasah () were Shaphan’s sons; the Micaiah of , , and Gedaliah (wh. see), whom the Chaldaeans made governor of Judaea after the Captivity of 586 b.c, his grandsons. 2. The ‘Jaazaniah, son of Shaphan,’ denounced in as ringleader in idolatry, was possibly, but not certainly, a son of the same Shaphan. G. G. Findlay.
Shaphat
1. The Simeonite spy (). 2. The father of Elisha (, , ). 3. A name in the royal genealogy of Judah (). 4. A Gadite (). 5. One of David’s herdmen ().
Shaphir
A city, probably on the Philistine plain (). It has been located by some a few miles S.E. of Ashdod. Attempts have been made to identify it with the Shamir of Jos 15". H. L. Willett.
Sharai
One of those who had married a foreign wife ().
Sharar
See Sacab.
Sharezer
Sharezer would answer to the Assyr. Shar-umr, ‘preserve the king,’ but that is only part of a name. 1. It is given 37 as the name of a son of Sennacherib who with Adrammelech (which see) murdered his father. Shar-etir-Ashur was the name of a son of Sennacherib, who in a fragmentary letter is addressed as monarch, about the time of Esarhaddon’s reign. The name might give rise to Sharezer. At present, however, the Assyrian accounts mention only one murderer, and do not name him. A satisfactory explanation of the Hebrew narrative is yet to be found. 2. Sharezer (the name is prob. incomplete) appears in Zee as one of a deputation sent to consult the spiritual heads of the Jewish community.
0. H. W. Johns.
Sharon
1. ha-sJiarSn, lit. ‘the plain,’ , . ; Gr. ho SarSn, whence AV Saron, Ac . This is the great Maritime Plain extending from Jaffa, or a little south of it, to Mount Carmel in the north. Though called a plain, it is of an undulating character, and was in parts, particularly towards the N., a forest of oaks (). Although but poorly cultivated, it has a great depth of rich soil and is capable of much development; left now largely to weeds, it yields annually a magnificent crop of beautiful wild flowers. It has always been a pasturage of flocka (, ). Around Raraleh and Ludd are forests of olives, and the orange gardens of Jaffa are too well known to need more than a passing reference; wherever the hand of man has been diligent, there the soil has bounteously responded. Over a great part of the plain, especially near the sea, water may be tapped at no great depth. Its rivers are the marshy Nahr Zerka or Crocodile River, just below Carmel, Nahr el-Mutjir, Nahr Iskanderuneh, and Nahr el-Aujeh, the last mentioned close to Jaffa. The chief town of Sharon was in ancient days Dor ( , ). in NT times Cssarea, and in later Crusading times (1218-1291) the fortified port of Athlit. In Lassbaron Is mentioned as one of the royal cities of Canaan; as ‘the king of is omitted in the original, the passage may read ‘king of Aphek in the Sharon.’ For ‘rose of Sharon’ see Rose.
2. A second Sharon (Saronas) is mentioned by Eusebius and Jerome as between Mt. Tabor and Tiberias, and this is to-day represented by the village of SarBna in the Ard el-Hamma N.E. of Tabor. This may be the place mentioned in (see above).
3. The suburbs (RVm ‘pasture lands’) of Sharon () are mentioned as among the possessions of Gad along with Gilead and Bashan.
E. W. G. Mastekman.
Sharuhen
See Shaaraim, 2.
Shashai
One of the sons of Bani who had married a foreign wife, Ezr 10"=Sesia of 1 Esdras 9:34.
Shashak
A Benjamite family ().
Shaul
1. A king of Edom. f. =1 Ch : 2. A son of Simeon (, . . ). The clan of which he is the eponym was of mixed Isr. and Can. descent, hence Shaul is called in and ‘the son of the Canaanitess.’ In the patronymic Shaulites occurs. 3. An ancestor of Samuel ( called in v. ("> Joel).
Shaveh, Vale of
A broad valley (‘imeq) , known also as’ the king’s vale’ (), which was near Salem. It is apparently the same place as ‘the king’s dale’ (). in which Absalom set up a pillar or monument. Shaveh was possibly the broad open head of the valley of Hinnom which, lower down, contracts to a ravine.
SHAVEH -KIRIATHAIM (‘the plain of Kiriathaim ‘) . — The place where the Emim were smitten by the allied kings from the East (). It probably derived its name from the Moabite Kiriathaim (, ).
H. L. WiLI/ETT.
Shavsha
Shavsha occurs in the list of David’s officers in as ‘scribe’ (RVm ‘secretary’), an office made necessary by the growth of the court and relations with other states. His name, and the fact of his father’s not being mentioned, make it probable that he was a foreigner chosen to deal with foreign correspondence. His name was evidently unfamiliar; in the list of it appears as Sheva; in that of (otherwise identical with Ch.) Seraiah has been substituted; LXX varies greatly in all passages. It is generally held that SMvsha is correct. Apparently in Solomon’s time he was succeeded by his sons ( Shisha being probably only another variation of the name). C. W. Emmet.
Sheal
(). One of those who had married a ‘strange’ wife; called Jasaelus in 1 Esdras 9:30.
Shealtiel
Shealtiel (Salathiel of 1 Esdras 5:5, 48, 5 6:2, AV of and ). The father of Zerubbabel (Ezr , . . , , , ). According to . Shealtiel was the eldest son of king Jeconiah. In V." the MT makes Fedaiah (a brother of Shealtiel) the father of Zerubbabel.
Sheariah
A descendant of Saul ( ).
Shearing-house, the
A place at which Jehu, on his way from Jezreel to Samaria, met and slew the brethren of Ahaziah, kmg of Judah (, ). Possibly the original should be left untranslated and appear as a place-name Beth-eked, which has not been identified.
Shear-jashub
Shear-jashub (‘a remnant shall return,’ ). — A symbolical name given to a son of Isaiah to signify the return of the remnant to God after the punishment at the hands of the Assyrians. See 8" lO’"- =‘, and cf. 7" 8’-*, and art. Isaiah, p. 387i’.
Sheath
See Aemoxjk Arms, 1 (c).
Sheba
1. The OT name for the people and country of the Sabseans in S.W. Arabia, the modern Yemen. In Gen. and Chron. the racial relationships of the people are diversely given. (P) and make them Hamites, (J) Semites. Again, whilst has Joktan as the immediate ancestor of Sheba, has Jokshan. These discrepancies are sufficiently accounted for by the extensive commerce of the Sabseans, the number of their settlements in distant regions, and the connexions which they were thus led to form. The language and script of Abyssinia, for instance, prove that a Sabsean colony was established there; hence the genealogy in .
The following are the salient points in the information which the OT gives us. The country was rich in gold () and incense (Jer &‘); the people were great traders ( f.), dealing in costly wares (Ezk )) their caravans were well known throughout the East () they were given to raiding (). possibly uniting trade and robbery, when convenient (ct. Odyss. XY. 415 ff.) ; a,nd they were not averse to the slave-trade () eventually, it was hoped, they would become tributaries of Israel (, ).
The notices in Greek and Latin authors correspond with the Biblical statements. Strabo, e.g., mentions myrrh, incense, cinnamon, balsam, amongst the products of the land, and states that their commerce made tnem exceedingly wealthy; that they had abundant furniture of gold and silver, beds, tables, bowls, cups, in costly houses. The panels, walls, and ceilings were adorned with ivory, gold, silver, mosaics. He affirms that they frequently laid waste the Syrian desert.
The Sabseans are also mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions . Tiglath-pileser in. (b.c. 745-727) enumerates the articles which he received from them in tribute: ‘gold, silver, camels, female camels, spices of all sorts.’ In an inscription of B.C. 707, Sargon declares that he ‘received the tribute of Pir’u, king of the land of Musuru (Egypt), Samse. queen of the land of Aribu (Arabia), It’amara, king of the land of the Saba’aa (Sabseans), gold, products of the mountains, horses, camels.’
During the 19th century a few European travellers succeeded in penetrating Yemen and bringing back a moderately full account of its natural features, and a large amount of material for reconstructing its history. It is incomparably superior to the rest of Arabia, both in climate and in soil. The central district is a highland region, with mountains some 8000 ft. above the sea level. Fertile valleys branch out from the hills, ‘well timbered in places, and threaded by silvery streams of dancing waters; sloping fields, gay with crops and wild flowers; terraced or jungle-covered slopes.’ Here are grown the best vines that Arabia produces. The air is pure and comparatively cool. The present capital is Sana, a town of about 20,000 inhabitants, on the southernmost of three great plateaux. The ancient capital, Marib, N.E. of Sana, lies between the rich valleys of the west and the ‘wadys of Hadramaut, which were the sources of Arabian gum.’ Inscriptions relating to the Sabsean kingdom have been found in various parts of the Arabian peninsula. They are written in a dialect which closely resembles Ethiopic, but there are no vowel letters, or modifications of the consonants, to indicate vowel sounds. Many come from the vicinity of Marib, where the ruins are of astonishing extent. The remains of its great dam, in particular, are very striking: a gigantic wall, two miles long and 175 paces wide, was built to connect two hills, and the water was run off for irrigation purposes by dykes which were cut at different levels. The construction of this work lies back in remote antiquity, B.C. 1700 being the date given by one authority, and B.C. 700 by another. About a.d. 100 it seems to have burst, and the streams which it once served to retain are now wasted in the sands. The Koran (.Sura 34) adduces this event as an instance of the punishment of disobedient ingratitude. In addition to the inscriptions, coins have been found and the names of the kings whose monograms they bear have been determined. From these two sources forty-five royal names have become known, six kings having been called It’amara (see Sargon’s list of tributaries). From some of the records it appears that two kings reigned contemporaneously(cf . ), and this has been explained by the fact that the prince next m age to the king was designated as his successor, sometimes to the temporary exclusion of the king’s son.
Experts have differed with respect to the number of periods into which the history of the Sabsean kingdom tails. All recognize three such divisions; (1) That of the mdkarib or priest-ldngs; (2) that of the lungs of Sheba; (3^ that of the kings of Sheba and Dh<l-Raid9,n. Glaser {Skizze der Gesch. Arabiens) prefixes to the firat of these a Minffian empire, and adds a fifth period, during which the dated inscriptions supply a more exact chronology. These five ages cover the time from about B.C. 2000 to the conquest by Abyssinia in the 6th cent. a.d. Many of the statements which have been copied from the rocks and slabs relate to war and agriculture. They bring before us a set of traders disposing of the products of their own country, and also carrying goods from India and Africa to the great emporium Tyre and the powerful empires of Mesopotamia. They give us a glimpse of the life led by a class of powerful nobles who dwelt on their estates in castles and towers. And they furnish a considerable amount of information respecting the Sabsean religion, its offerings of incense and animals, ita pilgrimag^ to certain shrines, its special month for pilgrimage, Dhu Hijjatan. The heavenly bodies were worshipped, the sun as a female, the moon as a male, deity. Many other divinities were recognized: a male Athtar (cf. the female Ashtoreth), Almakah, Ta’lab, Sami’, Kawim, Bashir,^ Haubas. The precise significance of some of these titles is open to doubt. But the cognate Heb. words justify us in saying that Sami’ is ‘the Hearer,’ Kawim, ‘the Sustainer,’ Bashir, ‘the Tidings-bringer’; and the Arabic word of the same form indicates that Ta’lab is a spirit of the trees. Three other names, Wadd (‘Love’), Jaghuth (‘He helps’), and Nasr (‘Vulture’ or Eagle’), are spoken of in the Koran {Sura 72) as though they were antediluvian idols. On inscriptions which date from the 4th and 6th centuries of our era, Rahman (‘the Merciful’) appears. This is due to Jewish influence, and it is interesting to observe that the Jews now living in Yemen have a tradition that their ancestors left Palestine before the Christian era. Cf . also art. Seba.
2. A worthless adventurer, who snatched at what he thought was a chance of winning the sovereignty of Northern Israel ( ff.). His appeal was addressed to thedeep-seated’inter-tribal jealousy. David took a serious view of the situation thus created (). but his rival lacked the personal qualities which might have rendered him formidable. He traversed the entire centre of the country seeking adherents in vain. Knowing that Joab and Abishai were on his heels, he shut himself up in Abel-beth-maacah (modern AWl), a town in the extreme north. There, according to a probable emendation of the text (). he was supported by his clansmen the Bichrites (not Berites, cf. ‘son of Bichri,’ ). The place would speedily have been carried by assault had not a woman, whose judgment was highly esteemed by the inhabitants, persuaded them to throw Sheba’s head over the wall to Joab () 3. A Gadite, (). 4. The Sheba of is out of place after Beer-sheba. V.’ shows that we ought to find thirteen, not fourteen, names. The LXX retains that number by omitting Sharuhen from the list. Sharuhen, however, should not be dropped, for it is identical with the Shilhim of . Some Heb. MSS leave out Sheba, as does also the parallel passage 1 Cb ^K The Shema of the LXX is from the list of IS^. There can be little doubt that Shema, inserted by mistake in the Heb. text and transliterated by the LXX, was subsequently changed to Sheba. j. Taylob.
Sheba, Queen of
narrates a visit of the contemporary queen of Sheba to king Solomon. At the present day there is a strong tendency to regard this as a legendary addition made by the later editor for the purpose of emphasizing Solomon’s wealth and wisdom. The reasons adduced are not quite conclusive. It is no doubt true that the inscriptions hitherto discovered fail to mention any queen of the Sabaeans. But the names are given of queens who reigned over other Arabian countries, and, curiously enough, in Sargon’s inscription, quoted on p. 842’‘, Samsg, queen of Aribu, immediately precedes It’amara, king of Sheba. It must be admitted, however, that the narrative in is not free from difficulties. We cannot satisfactorily explain the words’ concerning the name of the Lord’ () the LXX ‘and’ etc. being an obvious attempt to evade the difficulty, and the Chronicler () omitting all the words. It is hard to believe that the monarch of a highly civilized and exceedingly wealthy State would be dumbfounded by the luxury of the court of Jerusalem () that reads as though the chieftain of a petty tribe of Arabs was in question. Moreover, it is likely enough that the motive of the visit was other than our author supposed. Riddles, proverbs, apologues, and stories supply much of the material for the leisured conversation of the Arabs, but the queen of Sheba would visit her brother monarch with a more practical object than these. Commercial intercourse between the two countries was of extreme importance for the prosperity of both: Kittel (Die B’ucher der KSnige, p. 89) is justified in suggesting that she wished to promote this.
The fantastic legends which gathered round this journey may be conveniently read in Swro 27 of the Koran, and the notes on that chapter from Mohammedan sources which Sale has collected. Mohammed himself no doubt derived his account from Jewish sources. A lengthy history of queen Bilkis, from Ta’ labi’s Lives of the Prophets, may be found in Briinnow’s Arabic Chrestamathy. Solomon marries the queen, and the Abyssinians, to whom the story passed from the Arabs, call her Makeda, and trace from this marriage the lineage of all their kings. In this connexion two facta should be noted. First, that Abyssinia was undoubtedly colonized by the Sabsans. Second, that Jos. {Ant. n. x. 2) speaks of ‘Saba, a royal city of Ethiopia,’ and (vnr. vi. 5 f .), without naming Sheba, gives an account of the visit to Solomon of a woman who was ‘queen of Egypt and Ethiopia.’ He is mistaken as to the locality, but it is interesting to observe the tradition which he reports, ‘that we possess the root of that balsam which our country still bears by this woman’s gift.* J. Taylok.
Shebaniah
1. A Levitical family ( ). 2. A priest or Levite who sealed the covenant ( [see Shecaniah]). 3. Another Levite who sealed the covenant (). 4. A priest ().
Shebarim
A place mentioned () in the description of the pursuit of the Israelites by the men of Ai. EVm gives ‘the quarries,’ but the text is probably corrupt.
Shebat
See Time.
Sheber
A son of Caleb ().
Shebna
(in2 K IS’s m SHEBNAH). A major-domo or palace-governor of king Hezekiah, against whom is directed one of the recorded utterances of Isaiah (Is 2215-M). The prophetic denunciation appears to have found its fulfilment in Shebna’s degradation to the office of ‘scribe’ or secretary, and the elevation of Eliakim (wh. see) to the post of palace-governor (2 K Igis. 28. 11 192 =ls 36’- "• 372). Shebna was in all probability a foreigner.
Shebuel
1. A son of Gershora ( ), called in 242" Shubael, which is prob. the original form of the name. 2. A son of Heman ( [v.^" Shubael]).
Shecaniah
1. A descendant of Zerub. (1 Ch 3S1. 22 cf [1 Esdras 8:29 Sechenias]). 2. An exile who returned ( [1 Esdras 8:32 Sechenias]). 3. Chief of the tenth course of priests (). 4. A priest (). 5. A contemporary of Ezra ( [1 Esdras 8:92 Jechonias]). 6. The father of Shemaiah (). It is possible that he and No. 1 are identical.
7. The father-in-law of Tobiah the Ammonite (). 8. The eponym of a family which returned with Zerubbabel (). It is the same name which, by interchange of & and k, appears as Shebaniah in .
Shechem
1. , etc. See Jacob, Hamob. 2. A Manassite dan, W> (the Shechemites), . . 3. See next article.
Shechem
The place in which Jacob for a while established himself (. ). Here he is said to have dug the well consecrated by Christ’s conversation with the Samaritan woman, and still shown to travellers, with a claim to authenticity which is lacking in the vast majority of the so-called ‘holy places.’ It was evidently a place of sanctity: there was a great oak (or terebinth) here — no doubt a sacred tree — where Jacob hid his teraphim (). and under which Joshua gave his parting address to the elders (). A great stone under the tree was traditionally connected with the latter event (). This is no doubt the reason why Shechem was a Levitical city, and also a city of Jetuge (). The city, however, remained Canaanite after the conquest, serving the local god Baal-berith () Gideon’s concubine, mother of Abimelech, was a Canaanitess from Shechem, and her relatives set up her son as a king, to his and their own destruction (Jg9). Here Rehoboamalienatedthe Northern Kingdom by his overbearing speech (), and Jeroboam for a time was established here (). It was not a place of importance before the Exile, though continuously inhabited down to and after that event (). The development of the Samaritan nation led to its rise. It was known at this period to the natives by the name Mabortha (Jos. BJ iv. viii. 1), but the name by which It was generally known, after its re-building by Titus Flavins Vespasianus, was Flavia Neapolis, or, more briefly, Neapolis — a name which still persists in the modem Arabic form NSblus, though usually Roman or Greek names imposed on Palestinian sites have disappeared, the older names persisting.
In the Byzantine period there was a bishopric at Neapolis, of which we know little — save that the Samaritans in a.d. 474 wounded the bishop, and were in consequence severely punished by the emperor Zeno. The city fell to the Crusaders in 1099, and several churches were there built by them — one of which still survives in part as a mosque. In 1 184 it was re-conquered by Saladin. The inhabitants have always been noted for turbulence and lawlessness. Towards the end of the 18th century it was a storm-centre of the inter-tribal wars of the fellahln, the leader of the district being the notorious Kasim el-Ahmad.
It is now a town of some 24,000 inhabitants, all Moslems except about 150 Samaritans and 700 Christians. They are concerned in extensive soap manufacture, and in trade in wool and cotton with Eastern Palestine. There are Protestant and Eoman Catholic missions, and an important English hospital directed by the Church Missionary Society.
In or near the town are shown ‘Jacob’s well,’ which, as already said, is not improbably authentic; and a shrine covering the traditional ‘tomb of Joseph,’ the genuineness of which is perhaps less unassailable.
R. A. S. Macalisteh. SHEDEUR.— The father of Elizur ( ).
Sheep
1. taon, ‘small cattle,’ such as sheep and goats, etc.; a single sheep or goat. . 2. seh, etc., a sheep or goat; collectively, like 1, in etc 3. ‘ami, ‘rim.’ 4. racAei, . etc., ‘ewe.’ See prop, name Rachel. B. iar, etc., young lamb, e. kebes, . . and keseb, l.v . a lamb from one to three years old; the lamb of saonfice. 7. taleh iAmh. fully), 1 s . Isaiah 447 , a lamb, older than the preceding. 8. ■immar iAmm.). . ‘lamb.’ 9. In AVm has ‘lambs’ as tr. of gesUSh. See Kesitah 10. (Gr.) amnps, Jn l^^‘etc ‘lamb.’ ll. aren. Lk IQS eto., ‘lamb.’ 12. armon etc., the equivalent of Heb. keseb. 13. probaton, , , ‘etc., a general term like Nos. 1 and 2.
The common sheep of Palestine is the fat-tailed sheep (Puis aries, var. laticaiulata). The mass of tail-fat la sometimes enormous; it is the ‘whole rump’ (Heb. and Arab, ‘alyah) of , etc. Sheep are usually pastured with goats except when the land is too rocky and barren for the former. The flock is led by the shepherd, though the shepherd’s boy may bring up the rear; on a journey a shepherd of experience must drive the flock (). while another leads. When away from villages, the sheep are herded at night in folds, which are roughly made enclosures of piled-up stones; the shepherd lives in a cave or hut adjoining, and is in very intimate touch with his sheep, each of which he knows unfailingly at a glance. The skin of a sheep, roughly tanned with all the wool on, is the common winter jacket IJurmeh) of a shepherd or peasant. To kill a sheep or lamb for a stranger’s meal is one of the first acts of Bedouin hospitality. In the country, sheep are killed only in such circumstances or in honour of some festive occasion (cf. . ). E. W. G. Mastebman.
Sheep Gate
See Jerusalem, II. 4. SHEERAH. — A ‘daughter’ of Ephraim, ‘who, according to the MT of . built the two Beth-horons and a place of doubtful identity called TTzzensheerah=‘portion [7 lit. something weighed]of Sheerah.’ SHEHARIAH.— A Benjamite (). SHEET.— See Dhess, 4 (d).
Shekel
See Money.Weiqhts and Measuees, III. SHEKINAH (from Heb. shakan — ‘to dwell,’ meaning ‘dwelling’ [abstract], or ‘that which dwells’). — The word is not found in OT, but occurs often in other Jewish literature, always of God. The OT, particularly in certain of its writings, uses ‘anthropomorphisms’ freely, e.g. it speaks of God dwelling in a place or being seen. Later thought objected to this, as materializing the Divine nature; hence in the Targums (Aram, paraphrases of the OT used, though not in their present form, by the 1st cent, a.d.) various devices were adopted to prevent popular misunderstandings. Periphrases were used for the Divine name, ‘the Word’ (Memra), ‘Spirit,’ or ‘Wisdom’ being substituted. One of the most important of these was the ‘Shekinah.’ ‘God dwells’ usually became ‘the Shekinah rests’; ‘the temple of God’ became ‘the house of the S.’ (note the Tabernacle was the mishkan, from the same root) . becomes ‘the glory of the S. of J" is in this place’; ‘my eyes have seen the glory of the S. of the King of the world.’ God’s hiding His face is the removal of the S. Now the presence of God (especially in P and related writings) was often manifested by a fiery appearance, or a light in a cloud. It was so in nature (), on Sinai (). in the wilderness and in the Tabernacle ( , ), in the Temple ()) cf. etc. This glory was not God, but an effluence from Him, or from His Shekinah. For the S. was not ‘the glory,’ as is usually imagined, but the source and centre of it. It is a stage nearer to God Himself, and, though often used in connexion with the physical manifestation, represents an invisible and universal presence. E.g. it is the source of inspiration. Eli failed to recognize Hannah’s condition, because it had left him. It was present where three were gathered to administer justice. According to some, it was inseparable from Israel, still hovering over the west wall of the Temple. But it was commonly taught that it had always been absent from the second Temple, as had been ‘the glory’ (cf. )) or again, that on the successive sins of Adam and his descendants it had been withdrawn from earth to the first heaven, and finally to the seventh. The conception, in fact, varied. It was disputed whether it was an entity distinct from God, or only the essence of God as manifested. Though at first regarded a.s impersonal and passive, as distinct from the Memra, the agent of creation, in the Talmud it becomes active and talses the place of the latter. The tendency to personification is significant. Insisting one-sidedly on the transcendence or aloofness of God, the Jew had to bring Him to earth again by such mediatorial agencies, which were semi-personal and Divine, but not God, and by the development of an elaborate angelology. In the NT the word ‘glory’ seems often to refer to the Shekinah (cf . Bth. Enoch ‘Lord of glory,’ and ‘the Great Glory,’ as titles of God). speaks of ‘the glory’ as a Jewish privilege; of ‘the cherubim of glory.’ It was believed that the Shekinah would return with the Messiah; ‘the glory of the Lord shall be seen and the cloud’ (2 Maccabees 2:8). (a) It is connected with Christ (, ) cf. RVm, where the Shekinah is personified). In ‘the spirit of glory’ rests upon Christ, as upon the Tabernade; in He is ‘the effulgence of the glory’; in He is apparently called ‘the Shekinah." Of special significance is , which combines the expressions’glory’ and ‘tabernacle’ (Gr. skgnoun, probably intentionally chosen to represent ‘Shekinah,’ as in ). It connects the personal presence of God in Christ with the earlier presence in the Tabernacle; what was formerly symbol is now manifest ‘in flesh.’ The vagueness of the Jewish conception gives place to the definite presence of the personal Christ. Cf. with and , sayings such as ‘when two sit together and are occupied with the words of the Law, the Shekinah is with them,’ or ‘the man is not without the woman, nor the woman without the man, nor both of them without the Shekinah.’ (6) It is connected with the Christian. The first of the six things lost by Adam was ‘the glory,’ i.e. the reflexion upon him of the Divine glory, or perfection. Of this we fall short (), but it is in process of being recovered by the Christian ( S’*- ", ; cf. 2 Esdras 7:97, 98). C. W. Emmet.
Shelah
1. The youngest son of Judah by Shua (, , , <i«), ). He gave his name to the family of the Shelanites ( I")). Probably ‘the Shelanite’ should be read also for ‘the Shilonite’ of and . 2. The son of Arpachshad ( P^)- ‘s, , , ). 3. . See Siloah.
Shelemiah
1. 2. Two of the sons of Bani, who married a ‘strange’ wife (, [Selemias m 1 Es <">]). 3. Father of Hananiah (). 4. A priest (). 5. The father of Jehucal or Jucal ( ). 6. The father of Irijah (). 7. See Meshelemiah. 8. Ancestor of Jehudi (). 9. Son of Abdeel ().
Sheleph
A son of Joktan () and therefore a tribe in Southern Arabia. It is not yet identified.
J. F. McCukdt.
Shelesh
An Asherite ().
Shelou
Shelou n.— Father of an Asherite prince ().
Shelomith
1. The mother of the man who was stoned to death for having blasphemed ‘the Name’ (). 2. Daughter of Zerubbabel (). 3. One of the ‘sons of Izhar’ (, called in Shelomoth) . 4. A son of Rehoboam (). 6. A family which returned with Ezra ( [1 Esdras 8 Salimoth]).
Shelomoth
1. () =Shelomith of . 2. A descendant of Moses (). 3. A Gershonite ().
Shelumiel
Prince of the tribe of Simeon, 2» 7"- " 10" (cf. Judith 8:1). See also Shemuel.
Shem
The word signifies ‘name,’ which can also denote ‘fame,’ ‘renown’ (cf. ‘the men of name,’ ). Possibly it is an abbreviation; ct. Shemuel (Samuel), ‘name of God.’ In one of the two traditions combined in J ( f. lO"-") Shem, the ‘son’ of Noah, is the eponymous ancestor of several peoples, occupying, roughly speaking, the central portions of the known world. P has a parallel list in ll’"-". It is clear that Shem (from which is formed the frequently used title Shemites or Semites) stands merely for a geographical division, for some of the nations traced to him — e.g. Elam, and Lud (probably Lydians) — are certainly not Semitic. In the other tradition () ‘Shem’ stands for a people in Palestine — the Hebrews, or some portion of them — with whom ‘Japheth’ lived in close conjunction, and to whom ‘Canaan’ was subjugated. See Ham.
A. xi M*T*fFTTjF
Shema
1. A Reubenite, . See Shimei, No. 5. 2. One of those who put to fiight the inhabitants of Gath (, called in Shimei). 3. One of those who stood at Ezra’s right hand, at the reading of the Law (, called in 1 Esdras 9:43 Sammus). 4. A town of Judah, situated in the Negeb. The site is unknown. It is probably this Shema that appears in as a ‘son’ of Hebron. Cf. also Shbba, 4.
Shemaah
A Benjamite ().
James Hastings (ed.), with John A. Selbie and John C. Lambert, Dictionary of the Bible (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1909). Public domain. Scan of Cornell University Library’s copy from the Internet Archive; text from its OCR, with the Bible references read again from the page images.