Shemariah
Shemariah, another Israelite who was among those who had married foreign women during the exile.
Biography
This Shemariah appears in the list compiled by Ezra of Israelite men who had taken foreign wives during the exile and who pledged to divorce them in conformity with the covenant renewal under Ezra's leadership (Ezra 10:32). He is identified as being from the family of Harim. Ezra's investigation and the subsequent assembly at Jerusalem represented a crisis moment for the restored community: the practice of intermarriage with surrounding peoples was seen as a direct threat to Israel's religious identity and covenant distinctiveness. The men listed pledged not only to put away their foreign wives but also to accept whatever was required of them, offering rams as guilt offerings for their transgression.
Significance
The episode in Ezra 10, which records the names of men including this Shemariah who had intermarried, is theologically complex. On one hand, it reflects Ezra's rigorous application of the Mosaic prohibition against covenantal intermarriage with peoples whose religious practices would draw Israel away from God (Deuteronomy 7:3–4). On the other hand, it demonstrates the post-exilic community's willingness to undergo painful self-examination and costly repentance in order to preserve their identity as a holy people. Each named individual in the list represents a concrete act of accountability, reminding later readers that genuine repentance is specific, costly, and communal rather than abstract.
Verse Appearances (1)
Ezra
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]