BT Library

Shelemiah

SHELEMIAH (shĕl-ĕ-mī'a, Heb. shelemyâh, friend of the Lord )

SHELEMIAH shĕl’ ə mī’ ə (שֶׁלֶמְיָ֣הוּ or שֶֽׁלֶמְיָ֑הוּ; Yahweh has recompensed or restored). 1. A Korahite, of the tribe of Levi who was appointed keeper of the E door of the sanctuary in the reign of David (1 Chron 26:14). His name appears as Meshelemiah in 1 Chronicles 9:21; 26:1.

2. Two members of priestly families who had contracted foreign marriages before Ezra’s reform and are included in the list of those who put away their wives and children and offered guilt offerings (Ezra 10:39, 41).

3. The father of Hananiah, who shared in the rebuilding of the wall under Nehemiah’s leadership (Neh 3:30; cf. v. 8).

4. A priest, one of three treasurers appointed by Nehemiah to oversee the collection and distribution of tithes for the support of the Levites (Neh 13:13). This was part of Nehemiah’s reform of the cultus, since the Levites, up to this point, had not been able to devote themselves to their duties in the Temple.

5. The grandfather of Jehudi, who was the messenger of the princes to Jeremiah, commanding him to bring to them the scroll he had read to the people (Jer 36:14).

6. The son of Abdeel. He was one of three men commanded by Jehoiakim to seize Baruch and Jeremiah, a mission which proved unsuccessful (Jer 36:26).

7. The father of Irijah, a sentry at the Benjamin Gate who seized Jeremiah on suspicion of deserting to the Babylonians during a temporary lifting of the siege (Jer 37:13).

8. The father of Jucal, one of the princes who accused Jeremiah before Zedekiah of being a fifth columnist (Jer 38:1).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

shel-e-mi’-a, she-lem’-ya (shelemyah; Codex Vaticanus Selemia, Codex Alexandrinus (Selemias):

(1) One of the sons of Bani who married foreign wives in the time of Ezra (Ezr 10:39), called "Selemias" in 1 Esdras 9:34.

(2) Father of Hananiah who restored part of the wall of Jerusalem (Ne 3:30) (Codex Vaticanus Telemia, ..., Telemias). (3) A priest who was appointed one of the treasurers to distribute the Levitical tithes by Nehemiah (Ne 13:13).

(4) The father of Jehucal (or Jucal) in the reign of Zedekiah (Jer 37:3; 38:1; in the second passage the name is Shelemyahu).

(5) The father of Irijah, the captain of the ward, who arrested Jeremiah as a deserter to the Chaldeans (Jer 37:13).

(6) 1Ch 26:14.

See Meshelemiah.

(7) Another of the sons of Bani who married foreign wives in the time of Ezra (Ezr 10:41). It is of interest to note that the order of names in this passage--Sharai, Azarel, and Shelemiah--is almost identical with the names in Jer 36:26, namely, Seraiah, Azriel, Shelemiah.

(8) Ancestor of Jehudi (Jer 36:14).

(9) Septuagint omits.) Son of Abdeel, one of the men sent by Jehoiakim to seize Baruch and Jeremiah after Baruch had read the "roll" in the king’s presence (Jer 36:26).

Horace J. Wolf