SHIMEI (shIm'e-i), (Heb. shim-ee', renowned).
1. Son of Gershom the son of Levi (Num. iii : 18 ; I Chron. vi :17, 29; XXiii :7, 9, to; Zech. xii : 13) ; called Shimi in Exod. vi :17. In I Chron. vi :29, he is called the son of Libni, the son of Merari, but as he is elsewhere called Libni's brother, it is supposed that there is an omission in the text (B. C. after 1874).
2. The son of Gera, a Benjamite and a member of the family of Saul, residing at Bahurim.
(I) Curses David. He grievously insulted and cursed King David when he fled from Absalom (2 Sam. xvi :5-13). Abishai desired to put an end to this cursing, and requested permission to "take off his head," but was forbidden by the king, who said, "It may be that the Lord will look on mine affliction, and that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day." The royal party passed on, Shimei following them and casting stones and dirt as long as they were in sight (2 Sam. xvi:5-1 3), B. C. about 967.
(2) Spared. The king not only saved him from the immediate resentment of his followers, but on his triumphant return by the same road after the overthrow of his rebellious son, he bestowed on Shimei the pardon which he implored (2 Sam. xix :16). It seems, however, that it was policy which chiefly dictated this course, for'it was by the advice of David himself (1 Kings ii :8, 9) that Sol omon, after his father's death, made Shimei a prisoner at large in Jerusalem (i Kings ii :36, 37).
(3) Executed. Three years after he broke his parole by leaving Jerusalem in pursuit of some runaway slaves, and was, on his return, put to death by order of the king (i Kings ii :39-46), 13. C. to23.
3. A faithful adherent of Solomon at the time of Adonijah's usurpation (1 Kings i :8). Unless he is Shimci the son of Elah (1 Kings iv :18), Solomon's commissariat officer, or Shimea, or Shammah, David's brother, as Ewald (Gesch.
266) suggests, it is impossible to identify him (B. C. 1015).
4. The son of Elah, and Solomon's commis sariat officer in Benjamin (1 Kings iv :18), B. C. 1015.
5. The son of Pedaiah, and a brother of Zerub babel (I Chron. :19), B. C. 536.
6. A Simeonite, son of Zacchur, and father of twenty-two children (1 Chron. iv :26, 27) ; perhaps identical with SHEMAIAH (I Chron. iv :37), B. C. before 1618.
7. Son of Gog, a Reubenite, and father of Mi cah (1 Chron. v :4), B. C. after 1874.
8. A Gershonite Levite, the son of Jahath (1 Chron. vi :42), B. C. about 9. Chief of the tenth division of singers Chron. xxv :17), and possibly the son of Jeduthim. B. C. to13.
10. A Ramathite who was overseer of David's vineyards (1 Chron. xxvii :27), B. C. 11. A Levite, descendant of Heman, who as sisted in the purification of the Temple under Hezekiah (2 Chron. xxix :14), B. C. 726.
12. A Levite, the brother of Conaiah, who to gether had charge of the offerings and tithes un der Hezekiah (2 Chron. xxxi :12, 13), B. C. 726. Perhaps identical with 11.
13. A Levite in the time of Ezra who divorced his foreign wife (Ezra x :23). Called also SEMIS B. C. 459)• 14. One of the family of Hashum, who divorced his foreign wife at Ezra's command (Ezra x :33), B. C. 459.
15. A "son" of Bani, who had married a foreign wife and divorced her (Ezra x :38), B. C. 459.
16. "Son of Kish," a Benjamite, ancestor of Mordecai (Esth. ii :5), B. C. 479.
17. A head of a Benjamite family living at Jerusalem (1 Chron. viii :21). A. V.,