The name Shelemiah, which carries the profound meaning of “the Lord is recompense” or “the Lord is my peace,” appears frequently in the scriptures as a mark of men who served the interests of the throne, the temple, and the defense of Jerusalem. Throughout the history of the divided monarchy and the intense period of the Babylonian exile, these men occupied critical positions of trust. They were often tasked with the difficult, unglamorous, and sometimes dangerous work of upholding the administrative and spiritual order of the kingdom during its most perilous hours.
To map the scriptural footprint of this name, we examine the nine distinct men who carried it into the historical record, ensuring that each testimony is documented according to the evidence provided in the Word of God.
Every Individual Named Shelemiah
- Shelemiah the Gatekeeper: A Levite of the house of Korah who served during the reign of King David. Selected by lot as a chief porter, he was entrusted with the responsibility of guarding the East Gate of the tabernacle, maintaining the holy boundary between the common world and the dwelling place of the Almighty (1 Chronicles 26:14).
- Shelemiah the Father of Jehucal: A royal official serving in the court of King Zedekiah. During the height of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, he was one of the men sent by the king to the prophet Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord, reflecting the desperate and divided heart of the leadership in the final days of the monarchy (Jeremiah 37:3).
- Shelemiah the Father of Irijah: A captain of the ward, or guard, who arrested Jeremiah on charges of desertion. His son, Irijah, played a pivotal role in the prophet’s imprisonment, marking the house of Shelemiah as part of the establishment that resisted the prophetic warning of the coming judgment (Jeremiah 37:13).
- Shelemiah the Son of Abdeel: A royal official under King Jehoiakim. He was one of the men ordered by the king to seize the prophet Jeremiah and his scribe, Baruch, after they had finished reading the scroll of the Lord’s judgments against the nation—a clear act of opposition against the voice of God (Jeremiah 36:26).
- Shelemiah the Father of Hananiah: A ruler of the people who worked under the direction of Nehemiah during the reconstruction of Jerusalem’s walls. His son, Hananiah, was identified as a man of integrity who repaired a specific section of the wall near the Sheep Gate, demonstrating the restoration of the house of Shelemiah to the service of the Lord (Nehemiah 3:30).
- Shelemiah the Priest of the Ezra Registry: A priestly head of a family who had contracted a foreign marriage during the period of national apostasy prior to Ezra’s reforms. He was among those who stood in the public assembly and committed to putting away their foreign wives to purify the holy seed (Ezra 10:39).
- Shelemiah the Father of Hanan: A Levite mentioned in the post-exilic administrative records regarding the distribution of the tithes. His son, Hanan, was placed in a position of trust by Nehemiah to oversee the storehouses of the temple, ensuring the faithful management of the people’s offerings (Nehemiah 13:13).
- Shelemiah the House of Bani Leader: A head of the family division that returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel. His name appears among the official lists of those who committed themselves to the structural and spiritual restoration of the nation (Ezra 10:41).
- Shelemiah the Son of Cushi: Mentioned in the genealogical and historical context of the later prophets as a figure within the administrative structure of the Judahite remnant, serving as a reminder of the many who remained dedicated to the duties of the royal and temple service throughout the turbulent generations (Jeremiah 36:14).
From the gatekeepers who guarded the silence of the tabernacle to the officials who stood at the center of the kingdom’s final collapse, the name Shelemiah appears as a consistent marker of those who occupied the “offices of trust” within the nation of Israel.