Shimei ( ''Šīmʿī'') is the name of a number of persons referenced in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Rabbinical literature. *The second son of Gershon and grandson of

Levi Levi ( ; ) was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's third son), and the founder of the Israelites, Israelite Tribe of Levi (the Levites, including the Kohanim) and the great-grandfather of Aaron ...

(; ; ). The family of the Shimeites, as a branch of the tribe of Levi, is mentioned in ; ("Shimei" in verse 9 could be a scribal error''Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1906), "Shimei."); and in Zechariah 12:13. In the New Testament the name occurs in , spelled Semei in the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...

Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 104

* Shimei ben Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, son of

Gera Gera () is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of ...

, "a man of the family of the house of

Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh c ...

" (; ). He is mentioned as one of

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

's tormentors during his flight before Absalom, and as imploring and winning David's forgiveness when the latter returned. David, however, in his dying charge to

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

, bade him avenge the insult (). Jewish scribes say that Solomon's teacher was Shimei (son of Gera), and while he lived, he prevented Solomon from marrying foreign wives. The Talmud says at Ber. 8a: "For as long as Shimei the son of Gera was alive Solomon did not marry the daughter of Pharaoh" (see also Midrash Tehillim to Ps. 3:1). *A brother of David, called also Shammah, Shimeah, and Shimea (; ; ) *A friend of King David mentioned in *Son of Elah, one of Solomon's

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

s, over the district of Benjamin () *A grandson of Jeconiah and brother of

Zerubbabel Zerubbabel ( from ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a governor of the Achaemenid Empire's province of Yehud Medinata and the grandson of Jeconiah, penultimate king of Judah. He is not documented in extra-biblical documents, and is considered ...

() *A grandson of

Simeon Simeon () is a given name, from the Hebrew (Biblical Hebrew, Biblical ''Šimʿon'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Šimʿôn''), usually transliterated in English as Shimon. In Greek, it is written Συμεών, hence the Latinized spelling Sy ...

, who is described as the father of sixteen sons and six daughters, and whose clan dwelt in

Judea Judea or Judaea (; ; , ; ) is a mountainous region of the Levant. Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem, it is now part of Palestine and Israel. The name's usage is historic, having been used in antiquity and still into the pres ...

() *A Reubenite () *Levites (; ) *A Benjamite chief who had nine sons (, R. V.; comp. ib. v. 13) *"The Ramathite," one of David's officers () *A Levite and other Israelites whom Ezra required to put away their foreign wives () *Grandfather of Mordecai ().

Family tree

References

*{{JewishEncyclopedia, url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=S&artid=631, article=Shimei Biblical murder victims Book of Exodus people Tribe of Levi Tribe of Reuben Tribe of Simeon House of Saul