Shammai

Shammai is the name of three different men in the Judahite genealogies of Chronicles. Within the surveyed witness none of the three is shown speaking or acting in narrative; each surfaces as a node between fathers and sons. The name is preserved because the line is preserved.

Son of Onam

The first Shammai stands in the line of Jerahmeel: "And the sons of Onam were Shammai, and Jada. And the sons of Shammai: Nadab, and Abishur" (1Ch 2:28). His brother Jada also has descendants, with one branch closing off in the next generation: "And the sons of Jada the brother of Shammai: Jether, and Jonathan; and Jether died without sons" (1Ch 2:32). Shammai's own line continues through Nadab and Abishur, while Jada's halts at Jether.

Father of Maon

A second Shammai appears further down the same chapter, in the Calebite branch: "And Shema begot Raham, the father of Jorkeam; and Rekem begot Shammai" (1Ch 2:44). His son founds a town: "And the son of Shammai was Maon; and Maon was the father of Beth-zur" (1Ch 2:45). The genealogy moves quickly from person to place — Maon and Beth-zur are both also locations in Judah, and the line from Shammai becomes the founding line of Beth-zur.

Son of Ezrah

A third Shammai is listed among the descendants of Ezrah in the next chapter: "And the sons of Ezrah: Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon; and she became pregnant with Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa" (1Ch 4:17). The verse compresses two generations — the four named sons of Ezrah, then a woman whose pregnancy yields Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah. Ishbah in turn is named the father of Eshtemoa, another Judahite town. This Shammai, like the second, sits in a list whose other members become the fathers of places.