[c. 1,215 feet (370 meters)] distant from Jerusalem.” However, the exact location of the Low Plain of Shaveh cannot now be ascertained.—Antiquities of the Jews, Book VII, chap. X, par. 3.

SHAVEH-KIRIATHAIM

(Shaʹveh-kir·i·a·thaʹim) [level (plain) of Kiriathaim (twin cities)].

Scene of Chedorlaomer’s victory over the Emim. (Gen. 14:5) It was apparently the plain near or surrounding the city of Kiriathaim, E of the Jordan and later built or rebuilt by the Reubenites. (Num. 32:37; Josh. 13:15, 19) Geographers usually place Kiriathaim at el-Qereiyat, about six miles (10 kilometers) NW of the suggested location of Dibon.

SHAVING

See BALDNESS; BEARD.

SHAVSHA

(Shavʹsha).

A secretary of King David.—1 Chron. 18:16; see SERAIAH No. 2.

SHEAL

(Sheʹal) [asking].

One of several in the family of Bani whom Ezra induced to dismiss their foreign wives and sons.—Ezra 10:10, 11, 29, 44.

SHEALTIEL

(She·alʹti·el) [I have asked of God].

A descendant of King David and ancestor of Jesus in the tribe of Judah. Shealtiel is called the son both of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) and of Neri. Both Shealtiel and his brother Pedaiah are called the father of post-exilic Governor Zerubbabel.

As to Shealtiel’s father: Shealtiel is listed first among the sons born to Jehoiachin during his exile. (1 Chron. 3:17; Matt. 1:12) If Shealtiel married an unnamed daughter of Neri through whom Luke traces Jesus’ genealogy, Shealtiel might be termed by Luke “the son of Neri,” “son” embracing son-in-law, the same as Luke later calls Joseph, who apparently married Heli’s daughter Mary, simply “the son of Heli.”—Luke 3:23, 27.

As to Zerubbabel’s father: Pedaiah is once so identified (1 Chron. 3:19), but Pedaiah’s brother Shealtiel (1 Chron. 3:17, 18) is so termed in all other instances. (Ezra 3:2, 8; 5:2; Neh. 12:1; Hag. 1:1, 12, 14; 2:2, 23; Matt. 1:12; Luke 3:27) If Pedaiah died when his son Zerubbabel was a boy, Pedaiah’s oldest brother Shealtiel might have raised Zerubbabel as his own son. Or, if Shealtiel died childless and Pedaiah performed levirate marriage on his behalf, the son of Pedaiah by Shealtiel’s wife would have been the legal heir of Shealtiel.

SHEARIAH

(She·a·riʹah).

A descendant of Saul and Jonathan; one of Azel’s six sons.—1 Chron. 8:33-38; 9:44.

SHEAR-JASHUB

(Sheʹar-jashʹub) [a mere remnant will return].

The first son of Isaiah. Shear-jashub went along when Isaiah delivered a prophetic message to King Ahaz at the time of Israelite King Pekah’s invasion of Judah between 761 and 759 B.C.E. (Isa. 7:1, 3) Isaiah and his sons were to serve as signs and miracles from Jehovah in Israel; hence Shear-jashub’s name foretold that ‘a mere remnant would return’ from Babylonian exile.—Isa. 8:18; 10:21.

SHEATH

See ARMS, ARMOR.

SHEBA

(Sheʹba).

1. The first-listed son of Raamah the son of Cush.—Gen. 10:7; 1 Chron. 1:9.

2. A son of Joktan of the line of Shem. (Gen. 10:21-30; 1 Chron. 1:17-23) The thirteen Arabian tribes springing from the sons of Joktan dwelt “from Mesha [believed to have been near Dumah in N Arabia] as far as Sephar, the mountainous region of the East [probably near the S coast of the peninsula].” It is not possible to give a precise location for the tribe of Sheba in this vast area. It may be that men of this nomadic tribe were the marauding “Sabeans” who made the raid described in Job 1:14, 15.

3. One of the two sons of Jokshan, the son of Abraham by Keturah. (Gen. 25:1-3; 1 Chron. 1:32) While Abraham was still alive he sent his offspring through Keturah “eastward, to the land of the East.” (Gen. 25:6) So it seems that this Sheba settled somewhere in Arabia.

4. The son of Bichri a Benjamite, and one who lost his life in a revolt against David. (2 Sam. 20:1, 2) At the time David was returning to Jerusalem after Absalom’s rebellion, Sheba, “a good-for-nothing man,” detected the ill-feeling of ten of the tribes toward the men of Judah, David’s tribe. (2 Sam. 19:40-43) Sheba fanned the flames of this bitterness, saying that the other tribes had no “share in David” and urging: “Every one to his gods.” The men of Judah stuck to the king, but “all the men of Israel” deserted David to follow Sheba. One motive behind this rebellion may have been to bring back to the tribe of Benjamin some of the prominence it had under Saul.

David told his general, Amasa, to collect the men of Judah for battle within three days in order to put down Sheba’s uprising. When Amasa did not appear on time, the king sent Abishai after fleeing Sheba (though it appears that Abishai’s brother Joab actually took charge during the chase). Sheba and his supporting relatives fled all the way N to Abel-beth-maacah, a fortified city of Naphtali. The pursuers laid siege to the city and began to undermine the wall. Then a wise woman of the city spoke with Joab requesting peace. Joab replied that the army would withdraw if the city delivered up the rebel Sheba. On hearing this, the people of the city cut off Sheba’s head and pitched it over the city wall to Joab.—2 Sam. 20:1-8, 13-22.

5. A Gadite living in Bashan, a descendant of Abihail.—1 Chron. 5:11, 13.

6. A wealthy kingdom, in all probability located in SW Arabia. It was especially known for its gold, perfumes and incense. (1 Ki. 10:1, 2; Isa. 60:6; Jer. 6:20; Ezek. 27:22) The origin of these people of Sheba, or Sabeans, as they are frequently designated in secular sources, cannot be established with certainty. In the line of Shem there were two Shebas (Nos. 2 and 3) and one in the line of Ham (No. 1), who evidently settled in Arabia. However, some modern scholars believe that the people of this kingdom were Semitic, of the line of Joktan, descendants of Shem through Eber. (Gen. 10:26-28) Sheba’s own name and that of some of his brothers (for example, Hazarmaveth and Ophir) are connected with locations in S Arabia.—See HAVILAH No. 3; HAZARMAVETH.

The kingdom of Sheba was located, according to some authorities, in the eastern portion of modern-day Yemen. Its capital was evidently Marib, on the E side of the mountain range and some sixty miles (97 kilometers) E of Sanʽa.

Before nautical improvements made navigation in the Red Sea less hazardous, trade from S Arabia and possibly E Africa and India was largely accomplished by means of camel caravans through Arabia. Sheba dominated the caravan routes and became renowned for its traders of frankincense, myrrh, gold, precious stones and ivory. The Bible indicates that these traders reached as far as Tyre. (Ezek. 27:2, 22-24; Ps. 72:15; Isa. 60:6) A clay stamp unearthed at Bethel provides material confirmation of commerce between Palestine and S Arabia. Discoveries from excavations at Marib suggest that the Sabeans were a relatively peaceful, commercially minded people. At their capital they had a huge temple to the moon god.

QUEEN OF SHEBA

Sometime after Solomon had completed many building works, he was visited by “the queen of Sheba,” who had heard “the report about Solomon in connection with the name of Jehovah.” This queen, unnamed in the Bible, went to Jerusalem with “a very impressive train, camels carrying balsam oil and very much gold and precious stones.” (1 Ki. 10:1, 2) The mode of her travel and the type of gifts she brought indicate that she was from the kingdom of Sheba in SW