Bible Dictionary

Whom Jehovah heard. (1.) A prophet in the reign of Rehoboam (1 Kings 12:22-24). (2.) Neh. 3:29. (3.) A Simeonite (1 Chr. 4:37). (4.) A priest (Neh. 12:42). (5.) A Levite (1 Chr. 9:16). (6.) 1 Chr. 9:14; Neh. 11:15. (7.) 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 (1 Chr. 15:8). (8.) A Levite (1 Chr. 24:6). (9.) The eldest son of Obed-edom (1 Chr. 26:4-8). (10.) A Levite (2 Chr. 29:14). (11.) A false prophet who hindered the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Neh. 6:10). (12.) A prince of Judah who assisted at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. 12:34-36). (13.) A false prophet who opposed Jeremiah (Jer. 29:24-32). (14.) One of the Levites whom Jehoshaphat appointed to teach the law (2 Chr. 17:8). (15.) A Levite appointed to "distribute the oblations of the Lord" (2 Chr. 31:15). (16.) A Levite (2 Chr. 35:9). (17.) The father of Urijah the prophet (Jer. 26:20). (18.) The father of a prince in the reign of Jehoiakim (Jer. 36:12).

Fugitive, one of Shemaiah's five sons. Their father is counted along with them in 1 Chr. 3:22.

Freed by Jehovah. (1.) The head of the twenty-third division of the priestly order (1 Chr. 24:18). (2.) A son of Shemaiah, and one of the courtiers to whom Jeremiah's first roll of prophecy was read (Jer. 36:12). (3.) The head of one of the bands of exiles that returned under Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (Ezra 2:60; Neh. 7:62).

Toward Jehovah are my eyes, the name of several men mentioned in the Old Testament (1 Chr. 7:8; 4:36; Ezra 10:22, 27). Among these was the eldest son of Neariah, son of Shemaiah, of the descendants of Zerubbabel. His family are the latest mentioned in the Old Testament (1 Chr. 3:23, 24).

Whose benefactor is God, the father of Delaiah, and grandfather of Shemaiah, who joined Sanballat against Nehemiah (Neh. 6:10).

The name given to a false prophet Shemaiah, who went with the captives to Babylon (Jer. 29:24, 31, 32). The origin of the name is unknown. It is rendered in the marg, "dreamer."

A lion of Jehovah, a son of Shemaiah, and one of the temple porters in the time of David (1 Chr. 26:7). He was a "mighty man of valour."

He enlarges the people, the successor of Solomon on the throne, and apparently his only son. He was the son of Naamah "the Ammonitess," some well-known Ammonitish princess (1 Kings 14:21; 2 Chr. 12:13). He was forty-one years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned seventeen years (B.C. 975-958). Although he was acknowledged at once as the rightful heir to the throne, yet there was a strongly-felt desire to modify the character of the government. The burden of taxation to which they had been subjected during Solomon's reign was very oppressive, and therefore the people assembled at Shechem and demanded from the king an alleviation of their burdens. He went to meet them at Shechem, and heard their demands for relief (1 Kings 12:4). After three days, having consulted with a younger generation of courtiers that had grown up around him, instead of following the advice of elders, he answered the people haughtily (6-15). "The king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the Lord" (comp. 11:31). This brought matters speedily to a crisis. The terrible cry was heard (comp. 2 Sam. 20:1): "What portion have we in David? Neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: To your tents, O Israel: Now see to thine own house, David" (1 Kings 12:16). And now at once the kingdom was rent in twain. Rehoboam was appalled, and tried concessions, but it was too late (18). The tribe of Judah, Rehoboam's own tribe, alone remained faithful to him. Benjamin was reckoned along with Judah, and these two tribes formed the southern kingdom, with Jerusalem as its capital; while the northern ten tribes formed themselves into a separate kingdom, choosing Jeroboam as their king. Rehoboam tried to win back the revolted ten tribes by making war against them, but he was prevented by the prophet Shemaiah (21-24; 2 Chr. 11:1-4) from fulfilling his purpose. (See [527]JEROBOAM.) In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, Shishak (q.v.), one of the kings of Egypt of the Assyrian dynasty, stirred up, no doubt, by Jeroboam his son-in-law, made war against him. Jerusalem submitted to the invader, who plundered the temple and virtually reduced the kingdom to the position of a vassal of Egypt (1 Kings 14:25, 26; 2 Chr. 12:5-9). A remarkable memorial of this invasion has been discovered at Karnac, in Upper Egypt, in certain sculptures on the walls of a small temple there. These sculptures represent the king, Shishak, holding in his hand a train of prisoners and other figures, with the names of the captured towns of Judah, the towns which Rehoboam had fortified (2 Chr. 11:5-12). The kingdom of Judah, under Rehoboam, sank more and more in moral and spiritual decay. "There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days." At length, in the fifty-eighth year of his age, Rehoboam "slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David" (1 Kings 14:31). He was succeeded by his son Abijah. (See [528]EGYPT.)

Healed of God, one of Shemaiah's sons. He and his brethren, on account of their "strength for service," formed one of the divisions of the temple porters (1 Chr. 26:7, 8).

One intimate with Jehovah. (1.) A priest to whom the tenth lot came forth when David divided the priests (1 Chr. 24:11). (2.) One of the priests who were set "to give to their brethren by courses" of the daily portion (2 Chr. 31:15). Shechani'ah, id. (1.) A priest whose sons are mentioned in 1 Chr. 3:21, 22. (2.) Ezra 8:5. (3.) Ezra 10:2-4. (4.) The father of Shemaiah, who repaired the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. 3:29). (5.) The father-in-law of Tobiah (Neh. 6:18). (6.) A priest who returned from the Captivity with Zerubbabel (Neh. 12:3; marg., or Shebaniah).