Shimshai
Shim'shai (Heb. Shimshay', שַׁמשִׁי,' my suns, or sunny'; Sept. Σαμψά v. r. Σαμασά, etc.), a scribe or secretary of Rehum, who was a kind of satrap of the conquered province of Judaea and of the colony at Samaria. supported by the Persian court (Ezr 4:8-9,17,23). B.C. 529. He was apparently an Aramaean, for the letter which. he wrote to Artaxerxes was in Syriac (ner. 7), and the form of his name is in favor of this supposition. He is called Semelius by Josephus (Σεμέλιος Ant. xi, 2, 1). The Samaritans were jealous of the return of the Jews, and for a long time plotted against them without effect. They appear ultimately, however, to have prejudiced the royal officers, and to have prevailed upon- them to address to the king a letter which set forth the turbulent character of the Jews and ,the dangerous character of their undertaking, the effect of which was that the rebuilding of the Temple ceased for a time. SEE NEHEMIAH.
