All the Men of the Bible

Shemaiah [Shĕma ī'ah]—jehovah is fame, jehovah has heard or obeys the lord.

Evidently this popular name was shared by many Bible men, and at times two of the following may be the same individual. It is not an easy matter to identify them exactly.

1. A prophet sent by God to prevent Rehoboam from warring against the house of Israel. His part in the revolution and history are clearly defined (1 Kings 12:22; 2 Chron. 11:2; 12:5, 7, 15).
2. Son of Shechaniah and father of Hattush, descendant of Zerubbabel (1 Chron. 3:22).
3. Father of Shimri, perhaps Shimei, and head of a family of Simeon (1 Chron. 4:37). See verses twenty-six and twenty-seven.
4. A son of Joel, perhaps Shema of 1 Chronicles 5:8, and head of a family of Reuben (1 Chron. 5:4).
5. A Merarite Levite dwelling in Jerusalem (1 Chron. 9:14; Neh. 11:15).
6. A Levite, father of Obadiah (1 Chron. 9:16). Called Shammua in Nehemiah 11:17.
7. Head of the Levitical Kohath clan who assisted in bringing the Ark from the house of Obed-edom (1 Chron. 15:8, 11).
8. The son of Nathaneel, a Levite, who recorded the priestly office in David’s time (1 Chron. 24:6).
9. Oldest son of Obed-edom, a Korhite Levite and a gatekeeper of the Tabernacle in David’s reign (1 Chron. 26:4, 6, 7).
10. A Levite, commissioned by Jehoshaphat, to teach the people in Judah (2 Chron. 17:8).
11. A son of Jeduthun who helped in the purification of the Temple under Hezekiah (2 Chron. 29:14).
12. A Levite in Hezekiah’s time who was over the freewill offerings of God (2 Chron. 31:15).
13. A chief Levite in the days of Josiah (2 Chron. 35:9).
14. A son of Adonikam who returned with Ezra from exile (Ezra 8:13).
15. A chief man under Ezra sent to Iddo to ask for ministers. (Ezra 8:16).
16. A priest of the family of Harim who married a foreign wife (Ezra 10:21).
17. A person who helped to repair the wall (Neh. 3:29).
18. A son of Delaiah hired by Sanballat and Tobiah to intimidate Nehemiah (Neh. 6:10).
19. A priest, one of the twenty-four courses of priests that with Nehemiah sealed the covenant (Neh. 10:8; 12:6, 18, 34, 35).
20. A singer who took part in the dedication of the wall (Neh. 12:36).
21. Another, or perhaps the same person as the previous one, who gave thanks at the dedication (Neh. 12:42).
22. The father of Urijah the prophet who was slain by Jehoiakim for prophesying against Jerusalem and Judah (Jer. 26:20).
23. A prophet called “the Nehelamite” who in captivity was actively engaged in reproving or opposing Jeremiah (Jer. 29:24-32).
24. The father of Delaiah, a prince of the Jews to whom Baruch read the roll he had written under Jeremiah’s direction (Jer. 36:12).