Shechaniah

Shechani'ah (Heb. Shekanyah', שׁכִניָה, dweller [i.e. intimate] with Jehovah, twice in the prolonged form Shekanya'hu, שׁכִניָהוּ [ 1Ch 24:11; 1Ch 2

Chronicles 31:15], which is always Anglicized "Shecaniah" in the A.V.; Sept. Σεχενίας, but Σεχονίας in 2Ch 31:15; Ezr 8:5; Σεχανίας in ver. 3; Σεχενία in Ne 12:3; Vulg. Sechenias, but Sebenias in 12:3), the name of several men, chiefly during the post-exilian period.

1. The chief of the tenth division of priests according to the arrangement under David (1Ch 24:11, "Shecaniah"). B.C. 1014.

⇒Bible concordance for SHECHANIAH.

2. Last named of the priests appointed by Hezekiah to distribute the daily services among the sacerdotal order (2Ch 31:15, "Shecaniah"). B.C. 726.

3. One of the "priests and Levites" (but to which of these orders he belonged does not certainly appear, probeably the former, however) who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Ne 12:3). B.C. 536. In ver. 14 (and perhaps 10:4) he is apparently called SHEBANIAH SEE SHEBANIAH (q.v.). But he is not the same with the Shecaniah who was tenth in order of the priests in the reign of David; inasmuch as in the lists in Nehemiah his name continually occurs in the seventh or eighth place (see Keil, ad loc.).

4. A person apparently mentioned as one of the "sons" of Pharosh (i.e. Parosh), and father or progenitor of a Zechariah who returned from the exile in the time of Artaxerxes (Ezr 8:3). B.C. ante 459. As the phraseology, however, is here peculiar, many connect the clause containing this name with the preceding verse (as in the Sept. and 1 Esdr.; but contrary to the Masoretic punctuation), so as to read, "Hattush of the sons of Shechaniah;" thus identifying this person with No. 9. The clause containing this name is perhaps an interpolation from ver. 5. SEE HATTUSH.

5. Another person similarly mentioned in the same list (Ezr 8:5) as progenitor of "the son of Jahaziel," who likewise returned from Babylon with Ezra; but as the name Shechaniah itself is not found in the parallel list of Ezra 2, and as the mere patronymic ben-Jahaziel is scarcely a sufficient designation, we may conjecture (comp. ver. 10) that a name (actually supplied in the Zathoe of the Sept. and 1 Esdr., evidently the Zattu of Ezr 2:8) has dropped out of the Heb. text before "Shechaniah" (Bertheaui Kurzgef. Handb. ad loc.). This individual, i.e. Shechaniah, will then appear (in conformity with the phraseology of the adjoining enumerations) as the son of the Zechariah in question, and himself one of the returned exiles. B.C. 459. SEE ZATTU.

6. A son of Jehiel, of the "sons of Elam," and the one who proposed to Ezra the repudiation of the Gentile wives taken after the return from Babylon (Ezr 10:2), B.C. 458.

7. The father of Shemaiah, which latter was "keeper of the east gate," and repaired part of the wall of Jerusalem under Nehemiah (Ne 3:29). B.C, ante 446., He was perhaps identical with No. 9.

8. The son of Arah and father-in-law of Tobiah, the Jews' enemy during the restoration of Jerusalem (Ne 6:18). B.C. cir. 434.

9. A descendant of the Davidic line, father of Shemaiah, and apparently the son of Obadiah (1Ch 3:21-22). B.C. cir. 410. He may also have been the ELIAKIM (Mt 1:13) or JOSEPH (Lu 3:26) of our Savior's ancestry (Strong, Harm. and Expos. p. 16, 17). See Nos. 4 and 7.