Shuah is the name of one of four minor Biblical figures. It is sometimes used as the name of a fifth. Their names are different in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

, but they were all transliterated as "Shuah" 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 ...

Genesis 25

Shuah (, "ditch; swimming; humiliation" or "sinks down") was the sixth son of Abraham (the patriarch of the

Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

) and Keturah, whom Abraham had wed after the death of Sarah. He was the youngest of Keturah's sons; the others were Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, and Ishbak. Shuah in Greek is Σωυε, transliterated Soie. Josephus gave his name as Σοῦος (Sous in Whiston's translation). Josephus, Flavius, ''Antiquities'', 1.15.
Greek
/ref> Josephus writes of the brothers that "Abraham contrived to settle them in colonies; and they took possession of Troglodytis, and the country of Arabia Felix, as far as it reaches to the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

." But unlike his brothers, Shuah seems to have turned northward and travelled into northern Mesopotamia, in what is now the northern region of modern-day

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. As evidenced by cuneiform texts, the land seems to have been named after him, being known as the land of ''Sûchu'' which lies to the south of ancient Hittite capital of Carchemish on the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

river. The Bible also records that Job's friend Bildad was a ''Shuhite''.

Genesis 38

Shuah or Shua (, "opulence" or "cry for help") was a certain Canaanite, whose unnamed daughter marries Judah. He was thereby also the grandfather of Er, Onan, Shelah. The Targum translates "Canaanite man" as "merchant", and

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi (). Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ...

refers to this. In the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

, ''Pesachim'' 50a, there is a discussion explaining this translation. In the

, Genesis 38:2 reads "And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah ..." This is ambiguous as to who is named Shuah, the Canaanite or his daughter. This has led some to say that Shuah was Judah's wife. Shuah in Greek is , transliterated Sava. The

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

is explicit that Sava is the daughter of the Canaanite man and the wife of Judah. The reference to Judah's wife in Genesis 38:12 refers to her as the "daughter of Shuah", or "bat-Shuah" in Hebrew. This has led some to take Bat-Shuah (and variants) as her actual name. A

midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

ic tradition says her name was Aliyath. Bat-Shuah is also an alternative name for Bathsheba, wife of Judah's descendant, King David.

1 Chronicles 4

Shuah or Shuhah () is a descendant of Judah. No gender or father is named, just a brother Chelub and his descendants. Ralbag in his commentary says that Shuhah is the same as Hushah (חוּשָׁה) listed earlier in the genealogy. Nave says Shuhah is "probably the same" as Hushah. Shuah in Greek is ᾿Ασχὰ, transliterated Ascha. The Septuagint states that Chaleb is Ascha's father.

1 Chronicles 7

Shuah or Shua (, "wealth") was a great-granddaughter of

Asher Asher ( ''’Āšēr''), in the Book of Genesis, was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Zilpah, and Jacob's eighth son overall. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Asher. Name The text of the Torah states that the name אָ� ...

. She was the daughter of Heber, who was a son of Beriah, a son of Asher. Her brothers were Japhlet, Shomer, and Hotham. Shuah in Greek is Σωλὰ, transliterated Sola.From the Septuagint and Brento

References

{{sons of Abraham Book of Genesis people Books of Chronicles people Children of Abraham Canaanite people Set index articles on Hebrew Bible people