JERAHMEEL

(Je·rahʹme·el) [May God Show Mercy; God Has Shown Mercy].

1. The firstborn of Judah’s grandson Hezron. The royal and Messianic lineage passed through Jerahmeel’s brother Ram (apparently the same as Arni). An extensive genealogy is included for Jerahmeel’s descendants, some of whom inhabited the southern part of Judah.​—1Ch 2:4, 5, 9-15, 25-42; 1Sa 27:10; Lu 3:33.

2. Son or descendant of a Merarite Levite named Kish.​—1Ch 24:26, 29; 23:21.

3. One of the three men sent by King Jehoiakim in his fifth year to seize Jeremiah and Baruch. They returned empty-handed, however, for Jehovah kept his faithful servants concealed.​—Jer 36:9, 26.

Since Jehoiakim’s successor and presumed firstborn Jehoiachin was only about 12 years old during his father’s fifth year of rule, other sons of Jehoiakim were likely still younger, too young to be sent on such a mission as Jerahmeel’s. (2Ki 23:36; 24:6, 8) Therefore, Jerahmeel’s being called “the son of the king” might mean, not that he was an offspring of the king, but that he was a member of the royal household or an official of royal descent.

Of interest is the discovery of a seal impression, said to be from the seventh century B.C.E., that reads: “Belonging to Jerahmeel the king’s son.”​—Israel Exploration Journal, Jerusalem, 1978, Vol. 28, p. 53.