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Bible Dictionaries
Jerahmeel
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or JERAHMEEL (‘May El have compassion!’) 1. A non-Israelite clan in the extreme S. of Palestine, with which David cultivated friendly relations during his exile ( 1 Samuel 27:10; 1 Samuel 30:29 ). After Saul’s death the Jerahmeelites formed part of the little principality over which he reigned in Hebron. How indistinct the recollection of them was appears from the various forms assumed by their name in MSS of the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] : Jesmega, Isramelei, Aermon, Israel, Jeramelei . Subsequently they were considered to have been a Judahite clan ( 1 Chronicles 2:9; 1Ch 2:25 ff., 1 Chronicles 2:35-42 : here Jerahmeel is Caleb’s elder brother; the list of his descendants in 1 Chronicles 2:35-42 is of later origin than 1 Chronicles 2:9; 1 Chronicles 2:25-27 and brings them down to the Chronicler’s day). We have no historical or other records connected with these names, save that Molid ( 1 Chronicles 2:29 ) is a town mentioned elsewhere ( Joshua 19:2 , Nehemiah 11:26 ). 2. LXX [Note: Septuagint.] and Old Lat. read ‘Jerahmeel’ at 1 Samuel 1:1 as the name of Samuel’s grandfather. In all probability the Jeroham of MT [Note: Massoretic Text.] is an abbreviated form, like Jacob for Jacob-el , or the Yarkhamu found in a Babylonian list of Hammurabi’s time. 3. One of the three men ordered by Jehoiakim to arrest Jeremiah and Baruch ( Jeremiah 36:26 ). AV [Note: Authorized Version.] follows Vulg. [Note: Vulgate.] ( filio Amelech ), calling him ‘son of Hammelech’: RV [Note: Revised Version.] , with LXX [Note: Septuagint.] , ‘the king’s son.’ He was a scion of the royal house, but not necessarily a child of Jehoiakim. 4. In a list of Levites ( 1 Chronicles 24:20-31 ) drawn up considerably later than that in 1 Chronicles 23:6 ff., Jerahmeel’s name is added as son of Kish (MT [Note: Massoretic Text.] ‘sons’: the text is in a confused state). There must at the time have been a division of Levites called after him, and not, as previously, after Kish.
J. Taylor.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Jerahmeel'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/j/jerahmeel.html. 1909.
