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Shammah

SHAMMAH (Heb. שַׁמָּה; alternatively, שִׁמְעָה, שִׁמְעִי,שִׁמְעָא), the name of a number of biblical figures.

(1) An Edomite chief, the son of Reuel, and the grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:13, 17; I Chron. 1:37).

(2) The third son of Jesse (I Sam. 16:9; 17:13). He is referred to as Shimeah in II Samuel 13:3, where he is identified as the father of Jonadab, and as Shimei in II Samuel 21:21, where he is identified as the father of Jonathan, David's giant-killing warrior. I Chronicles 2:13 and 20:7 refer to him as Shimea. In the latter verse he is identified again as the father of Jonathan.

(3) The son of Agee, Hararite, one of the three mighty men of David who single-handedly defeated the Philistines when they attempted to invade a field of lentils (II Sam. 23:11–12). The parallel passage in I Chronicles 11:12–14 has "barley" for "lentils," and wrongly attributes the feat to Eleazar.

(4) A Harodite, one of the mighty men of David known as the "thirty" (II Sam. 23:25), who is probably identical with the son of Agee, mentioned above.


Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.