Jerahmeel

The name Jerahmeel (Hebrew יְרַחְמְאֵל, Greek ιραμεηλ) appears several times in the Tanakh. It means "He will obtain mercy of God"[1] or "God pities"[2] or "May God have compassion".[3]

Bearers of the name

There are probably three distinct persons of that name in the Tanakh.[1][2][3] In order of their lifetimes they are:

  1. a son of Hezron and great-grandson of Judah, as given in the extended genealogies in 1 Chronicles 2:9, 2:25-26 and 2:42.
  2. a son of Kish, one of the Levites appointed by David to administer the temple worship, as described in 1 Chronicles 24:29.
  3. a son of the king,[4] sent with others by Jehoiakim to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, as given in Jeremiah 36:26.

The Jerahmeelites

The Jerahmeelites were a people, presumably descended from Jerahmeel number 1 above, living in the Negev, who David, while in service with the Philistines, claimed to have attacked (1 Samuel 27:10), but with whom he was really on friendly terms (1 Samuel 30:29).

Cheyne developed a theory which made the Jerahmeelites into a significant part of the history of Israel,[2] but most subsequent scholars have dismissed his ideas as fanciful.[5]

An Archangel

In some deuterocanonical and apocryphal writings there are references to an archangel variously called Jeremiel, Eremiel, Remiel, Ramiel etc. See the article Jerahmeel (archangel).

The Chronicles of Jerahmeel

The Chronicles of Jerahmeel is a mediaeval document ascribed to the 12th century Jewish historian Jerahmeel ben Solomon, and is unrelated to any of the above.

References

  1. 1 2 Alfred Jones, Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names 1856, republished Kregel Publications 1990
  2. 1 2 3 Rev. T. K. Cheyne; J. Sutherland Black. "Jerahmeel" (PDF). Encyclopædia Biblica. pp. columns 2363–2366.
  3. 1 2 Stenning, J. F. (1902). "Jerahmeel". In James Hastings. A Dictionary of the Bible.
  4. ↑ or, according to the interpretation of the King James version, a son of Hammelech
  5. ↑  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Jerahmeel". Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.

Public Domain This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "article name needed". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

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