Seraiah

Share

Easton's Bible Dictionary - Seraiah

Seraiah [N] [H] [S]

soldier of Jehovah.

  • The father of Joab ( 1 Chronicles 4:13 1 Chronicles 4:14 ).

  • The grandfather of Jehu ( 1 Chronicles 4:35 ).

  • One of David's scribes or secretaries ( 2 Samuel 8:17 ).

  • A Netophathite ( Jeremiah 40:8 ), a chief priest of the time of Zedekiah. He was carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon, and there put to death ( 2 Kings 25:18 2 Kings 25:23 ).

  • Ezra 2:2 .

  • Father of Ezra the scribe ( 7:1 ).

  • A ruler of the temple ( Nehemiah 11:11 ).

  • A priest of the days of Jehoiakim ( Nehemiah 12:1 Nehemiah 12:12 ).

  • The son of Neriah. When Zedekiah made a journey to Babylon to do homage to Nebuchadnezzar, Seraiah had charge of the royal gifts to be presented on that occasion. Jeremiah took advantage of the occasion, and sent with Seraiah a word of cheer to the exiles in Babylon, and an announcement of the doom in store for that guilty city. The roll containing this message ( Jeremiah 50:1-8 ) Seraiah was to read to the exiles, and then, after fixing a stone to it, was to throw it into the Euphrates, uttering, as it sank, the prayer recorded in Jeremiah 51:59-64 . Babylon was at this time in the height of its glory, the greatest and most powerful monarchy in the world. Scarcely seventy years elapsed when the words of the prophet were all fulfilled. Jeremiah 51:59 is rendered in the Revised Version, "Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain," instead of "was a quiet prince," as in the Authorized Version.

    These dictionary topics are from
    M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition,
    published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain, copy freely.
    [N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
    [H] indicates this entry was also found in Hitchcock's Bible Names
    [S] indicates this entry was also found in Smith's Bible Dictionary
    Bibliography Information

    Easton, Matthew George. "Entry for Seraiah". "Easton's Bible Dictionary". .

    • Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary - Seraiah

    Seraiah [N] [E] [S]

    prince of the Lord
    Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names. Public Domain. Copy freely.
    [N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
    [E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton's Bible Dictionary
    [S] indicates this entry was also found in Smith's Bible Dictionary
    Bibliography Information

    Hitchcock, Roswell D. "Entry for 'Seraiah'". "An Interpreting Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names". . New York, N.Y., 1869.

    Smith's Bible Dictionary - Seraiah

    Seraiah. [N] [E] [H]

    1. The kings scribe or secretary in the reign of David. ( 2 Samuel 8:17 ) (B.C. 1043.)
    2. The high priest in the reign of Zedekiah. ( 2 Kings 25:18 ; 1 Chronicles 6:14 ; Jeremiah 52:24 ) (B.C. 594.)
    3. The son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite. ( 2 Kings 25:23 ; Jeremiah 40:8 )
    4. The son of Kenaz and brother of Othniel. ( 1 Chronicles 4:13 1 Chronicles 4:14 )
    5. Ancestor of Jehu a Simeonite chieftain. ( 1 Chronicles 4:35 )
    6. One of the children of the province who returned with Zerubbabel. ( Ezra 2:2 ) (B.C. 536.)
    7. One of the ancestors of Ezra the scribe. ( Ezra 7:1 )
    8. A priest, or priestly family, who signed the covenant with Nehemiah. ( Nehemiah 10:2 )
    9. A priest, the son of Hilkiah. ( Nehemiah 11:11 )
    10. The head of a priestly house which went up from Babylon with Zerubbabel. ( Nehemiah 12:12 )
    11. The son of Neriah and brother of Baruch. ( Jeremiah 51:59 Jeremiah 51:61 ) He went with Zedekiah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (B.C. 594.) Perhaps he was an officer who took charge of the royal caravan on its march, and fixed the places where it should halt.
    [N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible
    [E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton's Bible Dictionary
    [H] indicates this entry was also found in Hitchcock's Bible Names
    Bibliography Information

    Smith, William, Dr. "Entry for 'Seraiah'". "Smith's Bible Dictionary". . 1901.

    International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Seraiah

    SERAIAH

    se-ra'-ya, se-ri'-a (serayahu, "Yah hath prevailed"; Septuagint Saraias, or Saraia):

    (1) Secretary of David (2 Samuel 8:17); in 2 Samuel 20:25 he is called Sheva; in 1 Kings 4:3 the name appears as Shisha. This last or Shasha would be restored elsewhere by some critics; others prefer the form Shavsha, which is found in 1 Chronicles 18:16.

    (2) A high priest in the reign of Zedekiah; executed with other prominent captives at Riblah by order of Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25:18,21; Jeremiah 52:24,27). Mentioned in the list of high priests (1 Chronicles 6:14). Ezra claims descent from him (Ezra 7:1)).

    See AZARAIAS; SARAIAS.

    (3) The son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and one of the heroic band of men who saved themselves from the fury of Nebuchadnezzar when he stormed Jerusalem. They repaired to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, but killed him on account of his allegiance to the Chaldeans (2 Kings 25:23,25).

    (4) Son of Kenaz, and younger brother of Othniel, and father of Joab, the chief of Ge-harashim (1 Chronicles 4:13,14).

    (5) Grandfather of Jehu, of the tribe of Simeon (1 Chronicles 4:35).

    (6) A priest, the third in the list of those who returned from Babylon to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:2; Nehemiah 7:7, here called Azariah; 12:1), and third also (if the same person is meant) in the record of those who sealed the covenant binding all Jews not to take foreign wives (Nehemiah 10:2). As the son of Hilkiah, and consequently a direct descendant of the priestly family, he became governor of the temple when it was rebuilt (Nehemiah 11:11). He is mentioned (under the name Azariah) also in 1 Chronicles 9:11. Nehemiah 12:2 adds that "in the days of Joiakim" the head of Seraiah's house was Meraiah.

    (7) Son of Azriel, one of those whom Jehoiakim commanded to imprison Jeremiah and Baruch, the son of Neriah (Jeremiah 36:26).

    (8) The son of Neriah, who went into exile with Zedekiah. He was also called Sar Menuchah ("prince of repose"). The Targum renders Sar Menuchah by Rabh Tiqrabhta, "prince of battle, and Septuagint by archon doron, "prince of gifts," reading Minchah for Menuchah. At the request of Jeremiah he carried with him in his exile the passages containing the prophet's warning of the fall of Babylon, written in a book which he was bidden to bind to a stone and cast into the Euphrates, to symbolize the fall of Babylon (Jeremiah 51:59-64).

    Horace J. Wolf

    Copyright Statement
    These files are public domain.

    Bibliography Information
    Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'SERAIAH'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.