• Sheik
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • SHEIK

      A title usually given to the Edomite and Horite tribal chiefs, the sons of Esau and the sons of Seir the Horite. (Ex. 15:15) In Hebrew the designation is ʼal·luphʹ, “chief,” “head of a family,” “leader of [a] thousand.” The ancient Edomite and Horite designation corresponds with the title “sheik” as used for tribal leaders among modern Bedouins. In some Bible translations such titles as “chief,” “chieftain” and “duke” are used instead of “sheik.”

      Seven sheiks of the Horites are listed, all “sons of Seir.” (Gen. 36:20, 21, 29, 30) The sheiks of Edom were fourteen in number: seven grandsons from Esau’s firstborn Eliphaz the son of his wife Adah, four grandsons from his son Reuel the son of his wife Basemath, and three of his sons by his wife Oholibamah. (Gen. 36:15-19) The clans that developed from the sheiks came to bear their names as clan names.

      At Genesis 36:40-43 and 1 Chronicles 1:51-54 a different listing is given of the “sheiks of Esau [Edom].” These may be later sheiks than those listed earlier. Some commentators, however, believe the names to be, not those of persons, but of the cities or regions where the various sheikdoms were centered. Following this view, the translation of the Jewish Publication Society reads: “the chief of Timna, the chief of Alvah,” and so forth.

  • Shekel
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • SHEKEL

      (shekʹel).

      The basic Hebrew unit of weight (1 Sam. 17:5, 7; Ezek. 4:10; Amos 8:5) and of monetary value. Based on the average of some forty-five inscribed shekel weights, the shekel may be reckoned at .367 troy ounce (11.4 grams). One shekel equaled twenty gerahs (Num. 3:47; 18:16), and there is evidence that fifty shekels equaled one mina. (See MINA.) Calculated in modern values, a shekel of silver would be worth $.475, and a shekel of gold, $12.89.

      The shekel is often referred to in connection with silver or gold. (1 Chron. 21:25; Neh. 5:15) Before coins were used, pieces of silver (and, less frequently, gold) were used for money, the weight being checked at the time the transaction was made. (Gen. 23:15, 16; Josh. 7:21) Things pertaining to the tabernacle were sometimes stated in terms of shekels “by the shekel of the holy place.” (Ex. 30:13; Lev. 5:15; 27:2-7, 25) This may have been to emphasize that the weight should be precise or, perhaps, that it should conform to a standard weight kept at the tabernacle.

      It is generally thought that the “silver pieces” often mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures were silver shekels, the standard monetary unit. (Judg. 16:5; 1 Ki. 10:29; Hos. 3:2) This is borne out by the Septuagint (“silver pieces” at Genesis 20:16 being rendered by the same Greek word used to translate “shekels” at Genesis 23:15, 16) and by the Targums. According to Jeremiah 32:9, the prophet paid “seven shekels and ten silver pieces” for a field. Perhaps this was simply a legal formula meaning seventeen silver shekels (AS, Da, NE [1970 ed.], RS) or, possibly, it meant seven gold shekels and ten silver shekels.

      Second Samuel 14:26 may indicate that there was a “royal” shekel different from the common shekel, or the reference may be to a standard weight kept at the royal palace.

  • Shelah
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • SHELAH

      (Sheʹlah).

      1. [Heb., Sheʹlahh, missile]. Son of Arpachshad and grandson of Shem, who was born in 2333 B.C.E. and died in 1900 B.C.E., at the age of 433. Shelah and one of his sons, Eber, each founded one of the seventy post-Flood families; through Eber ran the genealogical line that led from Shem to Abraham and finally to Jesus.—Gen. 10:22, 24; 11:12-15; 1 Chron. 1:18, 24; Luke 3:35.

      2. [Heb., She·lahʹ]. The third son of Judah by his Canaanite wife. (1 Chron. 2:3) Tamar should have been given in levirate marriage to Shelah, but was not. (Gen. 38:1-5, 11-14, 26) Shelah’s descendants, some of whom, with their places of settlement, are listed by name, formed the tribal family of Shelanites. Some of these returned from Babylonian exile.—Num. 26:20; 1 Chron. 4:21-23; 9:5; Neh. 11:5; see SHELANITES.

  • Shelemiah
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • SHELEMIAH

      (Shel·e·miʹah) [Jehovah is recompense; or, communion sacrifice of Jehovah].

      1. A Levitical gatekeeper assigned by lot to the E of the sanctuary during David’s reign.—1 Chron. 26:14; see MESHELEMIAH.

      2. Grandfather of Jehoiakim’s officer Jehudi; son of Cushi.—Jer. 36:14.

      3. Father of Zedekiah’s messenger Jehucal (Jucal).—Jer. 37:3; 38:1.

      4. Father of Irijah, the officer in charge of Jerusalem’s gate of Benjamin; son of Hananiah.—Jer. 37:13.

      5. One of the messengers of King Jehoiakim sent to bring Jeremiah and Baruch before him; son of Abdeel.—Jer. 36:26.

      6, 7. Two men listed among the sons or descendants of Binnui who, on Ezra’s return to Jerusalem in 468 B.C.E., sent away their foreign wives.—Ezra 10:38, 39, 41, 44.

      8. Father of the Hananiah who helped repair Jerusalem’s wall.—Neh. 3:30.

      9. A priest, and one of those whom Nehemiah, on his second visit to Jerusalem, entrusted with the stores and distribution of the tithes to their proper recipients.—Neh. 13:6, 7, 12, 13.

  • Sheleph
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • SHELEPH

      (Sheʹleph).

      The second-named son of Joktan and founder of one of the early post-Flood families. (Gen. 10:26; 1 Chron. 1:20) Arabian equivalents of this name are found in Sabean inscriptions (dated before the seventh century B.C.E.) that speak of a Yemenite district of Salaf or Salif. Another form of the name may have survived in Sulaf, a place some sixty miles (97 kilometers) N of Yemen’s capital Sanʽa. These similarities, however, only suggest in a general way where Sheleph’s descendants settled.