Shimeath

shim'-e-ath (shim`ath, or shim`ath; the Septuagint in 2 Kings, Iemouath, Codex Vaticanus in 2 Chronicles, Sama, Codex Alexandrinus Samath, Lucian, Samaath): Father of Jozacar (2Ki 12:21 (22)), one of the murderers of Joash, king of Judah. According to 2Ch 24:26 Shimeath is an Ammonitess and the mother, not the father, of Jozacar. Many textual emendations have been suggested (compare HDB, article "Shimeath"), but they are unnecessary, as the Chronicler's revised version of the incident in Kings was a deliberate one. The Chronicler was a sturdy opponent of intermarriage, and in the story of the assassination of King Joash he saw an opportunity to strike a blow against the hated practice. In the older account in Kings the names of the conspirators are given as "Jozakar the son of shim`ath, and Jehozabad the son of shemer." The two names are both masculine; but the final taw (t) of the former looked to the Chronicler like the feminine ending and offered him his opportunity. In his account, the one of the two murderers (dastardly villains, even though the king had merited death) was "the son of (shim`ath), the Ammonitess" and the other was "the son of (shimrith), the Moabitess" (compare Torrey, Ezra Studies, 212 ff).

Horace J. Wolf.