Shealtiel asked for of God, father of Zerubbabel (Ezra 3:2, 8; Neh. 12:1).
Shearing-house (2 Kings 10:12, 14; marg., "house of shepherds binding sheep." R.V., "the shearing-house of the shepherds;" marg., "house of gathering"), some place between Samaria and Jezreel, where Jehu slew "two and forty men" of the royal family of Judah. The Heb. word Beth-eked so rendered is supposed by some to be a proper name.
Shear-Jashub a remnant shall escape or return (i.e., to God), a symbolical name which the prophet Isaiah gave to his son (Isa. 7:3), perhaps his eldest son.
Sheba an oath, seven. (1.) Heb. shebha, the son of Raamah (Gen. 10:7), whose descendants settled with those of Dedan on the Persian Gulf.
(2.) Heb. id. A son of Joktan (Gen. 10:28), probably the founder of the Sabeans.
(3.) Heb. id. A son of Jokshan, who was a son of Abraham by Keturah (Gen. 25:3).
(4.) Heb. id. A kingdom in Arabia Felix. Sheba, in fact, was Saba in Southern Arabia, the Sabaeans of classical geography, who carried on the trade in spices with the other peoples of the ancient world. They were Semites, speaking one of the two main dialects of Himyaritic or South Arabic. Sheba had become a monarchy before the days of Solomon. Its queen brought him gold, spices, and precious stones (1 Kings 10:1-13). She is called by our Lord the "queen of the south" (Matt. 12:42).
(5.) Heb. shebha', "seven" or "an oak." A town of Simeon (Josh. 19:2).
(6.) Heb. id. A "son of Bichri," of the family of Becher, the son of Benjamin, and thus of the stem from which Saul was descended (2 Sam. 20:1-22). When David was returning to Jerusalem after the defeat of Absalom, a strife arose between the ten tribes and the tribe of Judah, because the latter took the lead in bringing back the king. Sheba took advantage of this state of things, and raised the standard of revolt, proclaiming, "We have no part in David." With his followers he proceeded northward. David seeing it necessary to check this revolt, ordered Abishai to take the gibborim, "mighty men," and the body-guard and such troops as he could gather, and pursue Sheba. Joab joined the expedition, and having treacherously put Amasa to death, assumed the command of the army. Sheba took refuge in Abel-Bethmaachah, a fortified town some miles north of Lake Merom. While Joab was engaged in laying siege to this city, Sheba's head was, at the instigation of a "wise woman" who had held a parley with him from the city walls, thrown over the wall to the besiegers, and thus the revolt came to an end.
Shebaniah whom Jehovah hides, or has made grow up. (1.) A Levite appointed to blow the trumpet before the ark of God (1 Chr. 15:24).
(2.) Another Levite (Neh. 9:4, 5).
(3.) A priest (Neh. 10:12).
(4.) A Levite (Neh. 10:4).
Shebarim breaks; ruins, a place near Ai (Josh. 7:5; R.V. marg., "the quarries").
Shebna tender youth, "treasurer" over the house in the reign of Hezekiah, i.e., comptroller or governor of the palace. On account of his pride he was ejected from his office, and Eliakim was promoted to it (Isa. 22:15-25). He appears to have been the leader of the party who favoured an alliance with Egypt against Assyria. It is conjectured that "Shebna the scribe," who was one of those whom the king sent to confer with the Assyrian ambassador (2 Kings 18:18, 26, 37; 19:2; Isa. 36:3, 11, 22; 37:2), was a different person.
Shebuel captive of God. (1.) One of the descendants of Gershom, who had charge of the temple treasures in the time of David (1 Chr. 23:16; 26:24).
(2.) One of the sons of Heman; one of those whose duty it was to "lift up the horn" in the temple service (1 Chr. 25:4, 5); called also Shubael (ver. 20).
Shecaniah one intimate with Jehovah. (1.) A priest to whom the tenth lot came forth when David divided the priests (1 Chr. 24:11).
(2.) One of the priests who were set "to give to their brethren by courses" of the daily portion (2 Chr. 31:15).
Shechani'ah, id. (1.) A priest whose sons are mentioned in 1 Chr. 3:21, 22.
(2.) Ezra 8:5.
(3.) Ezra 10:2-4.
(4.) The father of Shemaiah, who repaired the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. 3:29).
(5.) The father-in-law of Tobiah (Neh. 6:18).
(6.) A priest who returned from the Captivity with Zerubbabel (Neh. 12:3; marg., or Shebaniah).
Shechem shoulder. (1.) The son of Hamor the Hivite (Gen. 33:19; 34).
(2.) A descendant of Manasseh (Num. 26:31; Josh. 17:2).
(3.) A city in Samaria (Gen. 33:18), called also Sichem (12:6), Sychem (Acts 7:16). It stood in the narrow sheltered valley between Ebal on the north and Gerizim on the south, these mountains at their base being only some 500 yards apart. Here Abraham pitched his tent and built his first altar in the Promised Land, and received the first divine promise (Gen. 12:6, 7). Here also Jacob "bought a parcel of a field at the hands of the children of Hamor" after his return from Mesopotamia, and settled with his household, which he purged from idolatry by burying the teraphim of his followers under an oak tree, which was afterwards called "the oak of the sorcerer" (Gen. 33:19; 35:4; Judg. 9:37). (See MEONENIM.) Here too, after a while, he dug a well, which bears his name to this day (John 4:5, 39-42). To Shechem Joshua gathered all Israel "before God," and delivered to them his second parting address (Josh. 24:1-15). He "made a covenant with the people that day" at the very place where, on first entering the land, they had responded to the law from Ebal and Gerizim (Josh. 24:25), the terms of which were recorded "in the book of the law of God", i.e., in the roll of the law of Moses; and in memory of this solemn transaction a great stone was set up "under an oak" (comp. Gen. 28:18; 31:44-48; Ex. 24:4; Josh. 4:3, 8, 9), possibly the old "oak of Moreh," as a silent witness of the transaction to all coming time.
Shechem became one of the cities of refuge, the central city of refuge for Western Palestine (Josh. 20:7), and here the bones of Joseph were buried (24:32). Rehoboam was appointed king in Shechem (1 Kings 12:1, 19), but Jeroboam afterwards took up his residence here. This city is mentioned in connection with our Lord's conversation with the woman of Samaria (John 4:5); and thus, remaining as it does to the present day, it is one of the oldest cities of the world. It is the modern Nablus, a contraction for Neapolis, the name given to it by Vespasian. It lies about a mile and a half up the valley on its southern slope, and on the north of Gerizim, which rises about 1,100 feet above it, and is about 34 miles north of Jerusalem. It contains about 10,000 inhabitants, of whom about 160 are Samaritans and 100 Jews, the rest being Christians and Mohammedans.
The site of Shechem is said to be of unrivalled beauty. Stanley says it is "the most beautiful, perhaps the only very beautiful, spot in Central Palestine."
Gaza, near Shechem, only mentioned 1 Chr. 7:28, has entirely disappeared. It was destroyed at the time of the Conquest, and its place was taken by Shechem. (See SYCHAR.)
