Shemaiah

Sh'maya is a Hebrew from "shem" and "aya": Sky, figuratively, the height or farthest extent of anything. From the particle shem, deriving from the ancient Semitic root ShM -name, light, sound, vibration, atmosphere. The -aya ending indicates that it is without limit. Another more common meaning is "Listen to God". It has been referred to otherwise as:

• Sh'maya, a rabbinic sage who was leader of the Pharisees in the 1st century BC

• in the Hebrew Bible/Christian Old Testament:
  • Shemaiah, a prophet in the reign of Rehoboam (I Kings 12:22-24)
  • Neh. 3:29
  • a Simeonite (I Chr. 4:37)
  • a priest (Neh. 12:42)
  • a Levite (I Chr. 9:16)
  • I Chr. 9:14; Neh. 11:15
  • a Levite in the time of David, who with 200 of his brethren took part in the bringing up of the ark from Obed-edom to Hebron (I Chr. 15:8)
  • a reference to Moses the Levite (I Chr. 24:6)
  • the eldest son of Obed-edom (I Chr. 26:4-8)
  • a Levite (II Chr. 29:14)
  • a false prophet who hindered the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Neh. 6:10)
  • a prince of Judah who assisted at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. 12:34-36)
  • Nehelamite (Dweller of Nehelam) The designation of Shemaiah, a false prophet who went with the captives to Babylon and who opposed Jeremiah (Jer. 29:24, 31-32).
  • one of the Levites whom Jehoshaphat appointed to teach the law (II Chr. 17:8)
  • a Levite appointed to "distribute the oblations of the Lord" (II Chr. 31:15)
  • a Levite (II Chr. 35:9)
  • the father of Urijah the prophet (Jer. 26:20)
  • the father of a prince in the reign of Jehoiakim (Jer. 36:12)

Written works

The second book of Chronicles refers to a "Book of the Prophet Shemaiah". No existing work has been identified with this title (see Lost books of the Old Testament).

This article incorporates text from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), a publication now in the public domain.