SERAIAH
(Se·raiʹah) [Jehovah has prevailed, persists, is prince].
1. A son of Kenaz in the tribe of Judah, brother of Judge Othniel and nephew of Caleb the spy. Seraiah’s descendants through his son Joab became craftsmen.—1 Chron. 4:13, 14.
2. The secretary in King David’s administration. (2 Sam. 8:15, 17) Unless there were several changes in the personnel of this office he is elsewhere called Sheva (2 Sam. 20:25), Shavsha (1 Chron. 18:16) and Shisha, whose two sons later cared for like duties under Solomon. (1 Ki. 4:3) The names of most of the other governmental officials are the same in the three Davidic lists.
3. A son of Asiel in the tribe of Simeon whose descendants, contemporary with Hezekiah, joined the force that struck down Hamites and Meunim occupying an area and used the land for grazing.—1 Chron. 4:24, 35, 38-41.
4. One of the three whom King Jehoiakim, late in 624 B.C.E., sent to fetch Jeremiah and Baruch because of the prophecy they had written against Jerusalem and Judah. Seraiah was the son of Azriel.—Jer. 36:9, 26.
5. The quartermaster of King Zedekiah; son of Neriah and brother of Baruch. (Jer. 32:12; 51:59) In the fourth year of Zedekiah, 614 B.C.E., Seraiah accompanied Zedekiah to Babylon. Jeremiah had given him a scroll containing prophetic denunciations of Babylon, instructing him to read it alongside the Euphrates River, then tie a stone to the scroll and pitch it into the river, thus illustrating the permanence of Babylon’s fall. (Jer. 51:59-64) Seraiah likely passed on to the Israelites already captive there some of the thoughts from the prophecy.
6. The chief priest when Babylon destroyed Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. Though Seraiah was slain at Nebuchadnezzar’s order, his son Jehozadak was spared and taken captive to Babylon. (2 Ki. 25:18-21; Jer. 52:24-27) Through Seraiah’s son Jehozadak, the high-priestly line from Aaron continued, Jehozadak’s son Jeshua holding this office on the Jews’ release and return. (1 Chron. 6:14, 15; Ezra 3:2) Seraiah is also called the “father” of Ezra, but in view of the 139 years between Seraiah’s death and Ezra’s return, there were probably at least two unnamed generations in between them, a type of omission common in Biblical genealogies.—Ezra 7:1.
7. One of the military chiefs remaining in Judah after the general deportation to Babylon; son of Tanhumeth. Seraiah and the others of his rank supported Gedaliah’s appointment as governor, warned him of Ishmael’s threat on his life and later endeavored to avenge his death. Fearing the Babylonians, however, Seraiah and the other chiefs led the remaining Jews into Egypt.—2 Ki. 25:23, 26; Jer. 40:8, 13-16; 41:11-18; 43:4-7.
8. One of those apparent leaders listed with Zerubbabel as returning from exile in 537 B.C.E. (Ezra 2:1, 2) He is called Azariah in the parallel list at Nehemiah 7:7.
9. A priest who returned from exile with Zerubbabel. In the following generation, Meraiah represented his paternal house. (Neh. 12:1, 12) The Seraiah included among the signers of the covenant in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah may also have been a representative of the same family, or another priest of this name. (Neh. 10:1, 2, 8) Seraiah, again possibly one of this paternal house or a priest of the same name, lived in Jerusalem after the walls were rebuilt.—Neb. 11:1, 10, 11.