<strong>SHEMER</strong> (shē'mẽr, Heb. <em>shemer, guard</em>). Owner of a hill in central Palestine that Omri king of Israel bought, fortified, and named Samaria after its former owner (<bibleref ref="1Kgs.16.24">1Kgs.16.24</bibleref>; <bibleref ref="1Chr.6.46">1Chr.6.46</bibleref>). This man’s name is Shamar in KJV of Chronicles.<br /><br />

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<strong>SHEMER</strong> <strong>she’ mər</strong> (<span class="hebrew">שֶׁ֖מֶר</span>; LXX <span class="greek">Σαμηρ</span>, meaning uncertain; perhaps <em>watch</em>). 1. Owner of a hill purchased by Omri as the site for a city he called Samaria (after <span class="hebrew">שֹׁמְרֹ֛ון</span>, “belonging to Shemer”) (<bibleref ref="1Kgs.16.24">1 Kings 16:24</bibleref>).<br /><br />

2. Merarite forebear of a singer placed in the Temple at Jerusalem by David (<bibleref ref="1Chr.6.46">1 Chron 6:46</bibleref>).<br /><br />

3. A descendant of Asher, named in the genealogical lists (<bibleref ref="1Chr.7.34">1 Chron 7:34</bibleref>; called “Shomer” in <bibleref ref="1Chr.7.32">v. 32</bibleref>).

Place-name studies of Samaria (“Shomeron”) indicate that it may be connected with the city’s fortifications, constructed by Shemer. Identification has also been proposed with Shamir (<bibleref ref="Judg.10.1">Judg 10:1</bibleref>), the lifetime home of a judge named Tola.<br /><br />

<h2>Bibliography</h2>

G. A. Smith, <em>The Historical Geography of the Holy Land</em> (1906), 346; F.-M. Abel, <em>Géographie de la Palestine</em>, II (1938), 444; Y. Aharoni, <em>The Land of the Bible</em> (1967), 98, 223.<br /><br />

<h2>International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)</h2>

(shemer; Semer, Lucian, Semmer):<br /><br />

(1) The owner of the hill which Omri bought and which became the site of Samaria (<bibleref ref="1Kgs.16.24">1Ki 16:24</bibleref>, shomeron). Shemer may be an ancient clan name. The fact, however, that the mountain was called Shomeron when Omri bought it makes one doubt that the city of Samaria was named after Shemer; the passage is questionable. The real etymology of Samaria roots it in "watch mountain" (see Stade, Zeitschrift, 165 f).<br /><br />

(2) A Merarite (<bibleref ref="1Chr.6.46">1Ch 6:46</bibleref> (31), Semmer).<br /><br />

(3) An Asherite (<bibleref ref="1Chr.7.34">1Ch 7:34</bibleref>, A and Lucian, Somer), called "Shomer" in <bibleref ref="1Chr.7.32">1Ch 7:32</bibleref>.

(4) A Benjamite (<bibleref ref="1Chr.8.12">1Ch 8:12</bibleref>, Codex Vaticanus Semer; Codex Alexandrinus Semmer; Lucian, Samaiel); the <span class="auto-link">[[Revised Version]]</span> (British and American) "Shemed," the <span class="auto-link">[[King James Version]]</span> "Shamed."<br /><br />

The Hebrew manuscripts differ; some read "Shemer," others "Shemedh."<br /><br />

Horace J. Wolf<br /><br />