Shema (1)

she'-ma (shema`; Samaa): A city of Judah in the Negeb (Jos 15:26). If, as some think, identical with SHEBA (which see) of Jos 19:2, then the latter must have been inserted here from Jos 15:26. It is noticeable that the root letters (sh-m-`) were those from which Simeon is derived. Shema is probably identical with Jeshua (Ne 11:26). The place was clearly far South, and it may be Kh. Sa`wah, a ruin upon a prominent hilltop between Kh. `Attir and Khirbet el-Milch. There is a wall around the ruins, of large blocks of conglomerate flint (PEF, III, 409, Sh XXV).

E. W. G. Masterman