Shelomith

Shelomith is a name borne by at least seven distinct figures in the Hebrew Bible, spanning the wilderness generation, the Davidic and Solomonic temple personnel, the royal house of Rehoboam, the post-exilic line of Zerubbabel, and the families that returned with Ezra. The Chronicler frequently spells the same name Shelomoth, and the two forms refer to overlapping individuals within a single genealogy.

The Mother of the Blasphemer

The earliest Shelomith in the canonical sequence is a Danite woman remembered for her son rather than for any act of her own. During the wilderness encampment, her son — born of an Egyptian father — quarrels in the camp and curses the divine name: "and the son of the Israeli woman blasphemed the name, and cursed; and they brought him to Moses. And his mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan" (Lev 24:11). The episode triggers the legislation against blasphemy that follows in the same chapter.

The Daughter of Zerubbabel

In the post-exilic genealogy of the house of David, Shelomith appears as the only named daughter in her generation: "And the sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel, and Shimei. And the sons of Zerubbabel: Meshullam, and Hananiah; and Shelomith was their sister" (1Chr 3:19). She is listed alongside her brothers without further narrative.

The Levitical Lines

Three Shelomiths (or Shelomoths) appear among the Levitical clans organized for temple service under David. The first is a son of Shimei in the line of Gershon: "The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers' [houses] of Ladan" (1Chr 23:9).

The second is the chief of the sons of Izhar in the Kohathite line: "The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief" (1Chr 23:18). The same figure reappears one chapter later under the alternate spelling, with his own son named: "Of the Izharites, Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath" (1Chr 24:22).

The third Levitical Shelomoth descends from Eliezer son of Moses and is set over the temple treasury. The line runs from Eliezer through several generations: "And his brothers: of Eliezer [came] Rehabiah his son, and Jeshaiah his son, and Joram his son, and Zichri his son, and Shelomoth his son" (1Chr 26:25). His office is then defined in detail. "This Shelomoth and his brothers were over all the treasures of the dedicated things, which David the king, and the heads of the fathers' [houses], the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the host, had dedicated. They dedicated out of the spoil won in battles to repair the house of Yahweh. And all that Samuel the seer, and Saul the son of Kish, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah, had dedicated, whoever had dedicated anything, it was under the hand of Shelomoth, and of his brothers" (1Chr 26:26-28). The treasury he oversees is the accumulated spoil dedicated by Israel's leaders from Samuel's day onward, set aside for the upkeep of the house of Yahweh.

In the House of Rehoboam

A Shelomith is born to Rehoboam by Maacah the daughter of Absalom, alongside three brothers: "And after her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith" (2Chr 11:20). The Chronicler does not specify whether this Shelomith is a son or a daughter, and the name is used for both sexes elsewhere in the corpus.

The Returnee under Ezra

The final Shelomith heads a family group in the second wave of returnees from Babylon: "And of the sons of Bani, Shelomith the son of Josiphiah; and with him a hundred and threescore males" (Ezra 8:10). His contingent of one hundred sixty men brings the line of Bani back into the restored community in Jerusalem.