SHECANIAH, SHECHANIAH (shĕk-ă-nī'a, Heb. shekhanyâh, dweller with the Lord)

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SHECANIAH shĕk’ ə nī’ ə (שְׁכַנְיָֽה, or שְׁכַנְיָ֖הוּ, meaning the Lord has taken up His abode). 1. A descendant of Zerubbabel (1 Chron 3:21, 22) and therefore a member of Judah’s royal line; almost certainly to be identified with the Shecaniah of Ezra 8:3 and possibly with the father of Shemaiah of Nehemiah 3:29.

2. The leader, chosen by lot, of the tenth group of priests, having special responsibility in connection with the house of the Lord (1 Chron 24:11).

3. A priest in the reign of Hèzekiah whose faithful service in distributing the freewill offerings among his priestly brethren is noted (2 Chron 31:15).

4. The son of Jahaziel, who returned with Ezra from Babylonia to Jerusalem in the reign of Artaxerxes (Ezra 8:5).

5. The son of Jehiel, who acted as spokesman for the large congregation whose conscience on the subject of mixed marriages had been stirred by Ezra (10:2). Shecaniah confessed the national sin, expressed the nation’s hope, suggested that a covenant be made before the Lord to eliminate the evil of intermarriage, and encouraged Ezra to take the lead in this reform. Since his name does not appear in the list of Ezra 10:18-44 he may not have been personally guilty.

6. The father-in-law of Tobiah the Ammonite, Nehemiah’s sworn adversary (Neh 6:18).

7. One of the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubbabel (Neh 12:3). A substitution of the Heb. letter ב (b) for ך (k) (the two are easily confused) has led to the form Shebaniah in Nehemiah 10:4; 12:14.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

shek-a-ni’-a, shekan’-ya (shekhanyah (in 1Ch 24:11; 2Ch 31:15, shekhanyahu); Codex Vaticanus Ischania, Sekenia):

(1) A descendant of Zerubbabel (1Ch 3:21,22). This is the same Shecaniah mentioned in Ezr 8:3.

(2) "The sons of Shecaniah," so the Massoretic Text of Ezr 8:5 reads, were among those who returned with Ezra, but a name appears to have been lost from the text, and we should probably read "of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel" (compare 1 Esdras 8:32, "of the sons of Zathoes, Sechenias the son of Jezelus").

(3) Chief of the tenth course of priests (1Ch 24:11).

(4) A priest in the reign of Hezekiah (2Ch 31:15).

(5) A contemporary of Ezra who supported him in his opposition to foreign marriages (Ezr 10:2).

(6) The father of Shemaiah, "the keeper of the east gate" (Ne 3:29).

(7) The father-in-law of Tobiah the Ammonite (Ne 6:18).

(8) The eponym of a family which returned with Zerubbabel (Ne 12:3). It is the same name which, by an interchange of "bh" and "kh", appears as Shebaniah (see Shebaniah, (2)) in Ne 10:4,12,14.

Horace J. Wolf