Shemaiah

The name Shemaiah is borne by some two dozen distinct men in the Old Testament — a prophet who restrains a king, scribes and gatekeepers serving David's tabernacle, Levites teaching the law and distributing offerings, returnees with Ezra, builders and signatories with Nehemiah, a hireling who tries to ensnare a governor, a Nehelamite false prophet judged from Babylon, and a quiet father whose son is martyred for telling the truth. They are commonly gathered under one heading; this page keeps them separated so the namesakes do not blur into one another.

Shemaiah the Prophet under Rehoboam

The prophet Shemaiah, called "the man of God," receives Yahweh's word at the moment Israel splits in two. When Rehoboam musters Judah and Benjamin to fight the northern tribes, the oracle stops the war before it begins: "Thus says Yahweh, You⁺ will not go up, nor fight against your⁺ brothers the sons of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is [from my Speech]" (1Ki 12:24). The Chronicler preserves the same restraint: "So they listened to the words of Yahweh, and returned from going against Jeroboam" (2Ch 11:4).

Years later, when Shishak of Egypt comes against Jerusalem, Shemaiah brings a second word. He confronts Rehoboam and the princes gathered in the city: "Thus says Yahweh, You⁺ have forsaken me, therefore I have also left you⁺ in the hand of Shishak" (2Ch 12:5). The princes and the king humble themselves and confess, "Yahweh is righteous" (2Ch 12:6). Yahweh then speaks again to Shemaiah, granting partial deliverance: "I will not destroy them; but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak" (2Ch 12:7).

Shemaiah is also a writer. The Chronicler's closing notice for Rehoboam points to his archive: "Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the histories of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, after the manner of genealogies?" (2Ch 12:15).

Davidic and Tribal Genealogies

A Shemaiah appears in the post-exilic Davidic line as son of Shecaniah, with sons of his own: "And the sons of Shecaniah: Shemaiah. And the sons of Shemaiah: Hattush, and Igal, and Bariah, and Neariah, and Shaphat, six" (1Ch 3:22).

Among Simeon's clans Shemaiah is named as a forefather of Ziza, listed in the line "the son of Shemri, the son of Shemaiah" (1Ch 4:37).

In Reuben's tribal record, Joel's son bears the name: "The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son" (1Ch 5:4). The same figure is identified where the Chronicler later writes the shorter form Shema: "and Bela the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who dwelt in Aroer" (1Ch 5:8).

Levites of David's House

Several Levites named Shemaiah serve in the house David organizes for worship. A chief of the sons of Elizaphan brings two hundred kinsmen to bring up the ark: "of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and his brothers two hundred" (1Ch 15:8); when David assembles the priests and Levites, he is among them: "Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab" (1Ch 15:11).

Another Shemaiah, son of Nethanel, is the scribe who records the priestly courses: "And Shemaiah the son of Nethanel the scribe, who was of the Levites, wrote them in the presence of the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar" (1Ch 24:6).

A third belongs to the gatekeepers: he is the firstborn of Obed-edom. "And Obed-edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third" (1Ch 26:4). He fathers a vigorous house: "Also to Shemaiah his son were sons born, that ruled over the house of their father; for they were mighty men of valor" (1Ch 26:6), and his sons are named — "Othni, and Rephael, and Obed, Elzabad, whose brothers were valiant men, Elihu, and Semachiah" (1Ch 26:7).

A Merarite Shemaiah heads a Levitical line traced through three generations: "And of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari" (1Ch 9:14). Nehemiah lists the same Merarite Shemaiah among the Levites of the resettled city, noting that he and his colleagues "had the oversight of the outward business of the house of God" (Ne 11:16, see 11:15).

A sixth Shemaiah belongs to the line of Jeduthun. "And Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun" (1Ch 9:16). Nehemiah's parallel record of the singers gives the variant Shammua for this same house: "Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun" (Ne 11:17).

Levites under the Reforming Kings

Under Jehoshaphat, a Shemaiah is sent through the cities of Judah to teach the law: "and with them the Levites, even Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth" (2Ch 17:8).

Under Hezekiah, a Shemaiah of the Jeduthunites helps cleanse the temple: "and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel" (2Ch 29:14). Another is set in the priestly cities to distribute the contributions: "And under him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their office of trust" (2Ch 31:15).

Under Josiah, a Shemaiah is among the chiefs of the Levites who provide the Passover animals: "Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brothers, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave to the Levites for the Passover-offerings five thousand [small cattle], and five hundred oxen" (2Ch 35:9).

Shemaiahs in Ezra's Caravan and Marriage Reform

Ezra's roll of returnees from Babylon names a Shemaiah among the sons of Adonikam, "the last": "Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them threescore males" (Ezr 8:13).

When Ezra halts at the river Ahava and sends for Levites, a Shemaiah is among the chief men summoned: "Then I sent for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men" (Ezr 8:16).

In the marriage reform that follows, two distinct Shemaiahs appear in the list of those who put away foreign wives. A priest of the sons of Harim: "And of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah" (Ezr 10:21). And, in the lay catalog, another from the (different) sons of Harim: "And [of] the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon" (Ezr 10:31).

Shemaiahs around Nehemiah

A Shemaiah son of Shecaniah keeps the east gate and works on the wall: "After him repaired Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the east gate" (Ne 3:29).

Another Shemaiah, son of Delaiah son of Mehetabel, plays a darker part. Nehemiah goes to his house and finds him "shut up." The man urges him to take refuge in the temple: "Let us meet together in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay you" (Ne 6:10). The narrative frames the counsel as a hireling's trap rather than a prophet's word.

A priest named Shemaiah seals the covenant with Nehemiah: "Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these were the priests" (Ne 10:8).

A priestly head Shemaiah came up with Zerubbabel — listed in the original delegation, "Shemaiah, and Joiarib, Jedaiah" (Ne 12:6) — and is later represented by Jehonathan in the next generation: "of Shemaiah, Jehonathan" (Ne 12:18).

A further priest Shemaiah is named in the Asaphite ancestry of the trumpet-blowing Zechariah: "Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph" (Ne 12:35).

At the dedication of the rebuilt wall, three different men named Shemaiah appear in the processions and the celebration. One walks with the princes: "Judah, and Benjamin, and Shemaiah, and Jeremiah" (Ne 12:34). Another is among the brothers of the trumpeters with the instruments of David: "and his brothers, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God" (Ne 12:36). A third stands among the priests with the trumpets: "and Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah" (Ne 12:42).

Shemaiahs in the Time of Jeremiah

A faithful man named Shemaiah of Kiriath-jearim is the father of the prophet Uriah whom Jehoiakim has killed: "And there was also a man who prophesied in the name of Yahweh, Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah" (Jer 26:20).

Far from him stands Shemaiah the Nehelamite, the false prophet of the exile. From Babylon he writes to Jerusalem trying to silence Jeremiah: he tells Zephaniah the priest, "Now therefore, why haven't you rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you⁺" (Jer 29:27). When Zephaniah reads the letter aloud to Jeremiah, the answering oracle is sharp: "Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you⁺, and I did not send him, and he has caused you⁺ to trust in a lie" (Jer 29:31). The judgment falls on him and his line: "Look, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed; he will not have a man to dwell among this people, neither will he see the good that I will do to my people, says Yahweh, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh" (Jer 29:32).

A final Shemaiah is the father of Delaiah, one of the princes in Jehoiakim's court when Baruch's scroll is read: "Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes" (Jer 36:12).