Shammah (Hastings' Dictionary)

1. The son of Renel the son of Esau, and a tribal chief {"-iM) of Edora (Gn 36'»' " [■So/i^, in V." D i'o/xai], 1 Ch I" [B 2om^, A Zofi/ifi). 2. (B in 1 S )6», 2 S 13« SaM, 2 S 13», 1 Ch 2" 20' Zafiai, 2 S 2P' S^Ai"! ; A in 1 S 16" 17" 2a^M<i, 1 Ch 2" Xaiuui, 1 Ch 20' 2a/«ids) The third son of Jesse and brother of David. Like his two eldet SHAM.MAII SHAPIIAX 475 brothers, he joined Saul's forces in the campaign Bgainst tlie Philistines, and was with the Israelite army in the valley of Elah when Uavid overcame Goliath (1 S 17"'"). According to a later writer, he was present at the anointing of David bj Samuel (1 S 16'""). He was the father of Jonadab, the friend and adviser of Aninon (2 S 13"-), and also of that Jonathan whose exploit against a Philistine giant is recorded in 2 S 21-"'-. His name is variously given as Shammah (~!7 1 S 16' 17"), Shimeah (li'^y 2 S 13^- ^-'), Shimei (•;=?', ^ire kv?? 2 S 21-'), and Shimea (K::;ci- 1 Ch 2'^ 20'). 3. (2 S 23" B la/xaid, A'2oM/«ds ; 23»» B -Zaiiwiv, A SaMi-ds; 1 Ch ll-* B ^uiXi, A Zayi)) The son of ACEE, a Hararite (read ii.nn in 2 S 23", see v."^, 1 Ch 11"), one of David's famous 'Three.' The special act of bravery to which he owed Ids position is briefly recorded in 2 S 23"- •=. The Philistines, in the course of a foray, had driven the Israelites from a held of lentils (1 Ch 11" barley) at Lchi (read n;n^ to Lelii (Jg IS""") for .1;^^ to the troop {?), 80 most moderns; see Driver, ad loc). The Israelites lied before the enemy, but Shammah held his ground, and by his courageous stand brought about a victory for Israel. The succeed- in" incident which is narrated in 2 S 23'"'-, viz. the well-known exploit of David's three mighty men, who broke through the hosts of the I'hilistines and brought him water from the well of Beth- lehem, ha.s been frequently ascriljcd to Shammah and the two other members of 'the Three'; but the tliree heroes who performed this feat are clearly stated in v." to belong to 'the Thirty.' Since no previous mention has been made of ' the Thirty,' it is probable that vv."-"» are not in their original place, and that v.'"'' really forms the continuation of vv."-" (so Wellh., Driver). In the parallel narrative (1 Ch 11""-) Shammah is not mentioned by name, and the exploit which made his name famous is wrongly ascribed to Eleazar the son of Dodo. Klosteriuann plausibly suggests that the incorrect reading in v." ' into a troop' (■\'"'r) represents an original 'to battle' (.TpnSv'?), and that the Chronicler accidentally passed ^rora this phrase in v. to the same phrase in v.", omitting the intervening narrative. According to the most probable reading of 2 S 23', Shammah was the father of Jonathan, one of David's 'Thirty.' In this pas.sage the word sun has been accidentally omitted, and we must restore ' Jonathan the son of Shammah ' ("iTf-!? injVi;, so Driver, Budde, Kittel, Klost., Lohr) ; the parallel pas-sage (1 Ch 11") gives 'Jonathan the son of Shage ' ('iV'Yi fnj'i'), but the reading ' Shammah ' (for SImge) is conlirmed by Lucian (iio/jaid). Possibly Shuge{;:\i) has arisen from a confusion with 'Age' (KiK) in 2 S 23". Wellhausen (Text d. B. Sam. p. 216) prefers the reading of the Chronicler (kjj' or ';y|5), and supposes that Jonathan the Hararite was the son of Shage (which he would restore in V." for Agee) and brother of Shammah. Klostcr- mann, adopting the reading of Lucian in 2 S 23" ('H\d = .T''i<), identihes Shammah with Shimei the son of Elah, one of Solomon's twelve monthly ollicers ( I K 4'"). 4. (2S 23» B Sot/id, A Sa^/Mit; 1 Ch 11" B raMOcitf, A 'ZaiiwO ; 27" B SaXaiitf, A raMoiiC) A Ilarodite, i.e. probably a native of 'Ain-liarod (see Harod), one of 'the Thirty,' and captain of Solomon's fifth monthly course. In the parallel lists he is called ' Shammoth the Ilarorite' (1 Ch 1 1" "!\-\^ri nits' ; read 'inq.T the Ilarodite) and ' Shamhuth the Izrahite' (1 Ch '.i7' n-irrr nin;p). Since the lists of heroes given in 2 S 23 and 1 Ch 1 1 are a<lmittedly in confusion, it is po8.sible that (3) and (4) are identical, and that the obscure * Hararite ' (2 S 23"- ») is a mistake for ' Harodite.' J. F. StenniKQ.