SERAIAH sĭ rā’ yə (שְׂרָיָ֖ה , שְׂרָיָ֣הוּ ; in Gr. of Apoc. transliterated Σαραία, Σαρεά, Jahweh has persisted.) KJV Apoc. SARAIAS—yes. 1. David’s scribe (2 Sam 8:17), also variantly called Sheva (2 Sam 20:25), Shisha (1 Kings 4:3), Shavsha (1 Chron 18:16). There is some possibility that the original Heb. was שׁשׁא. During his career, David’s reign was at its zenith.

2. A son of Azariah and high priest at 587 (6) b.c. when Jerusalem was captured and destroyed by the Babylonians. He was seized and put to death at Riblah by Nebuchadnezzar, prob. not for anything he had done, but because he was a symbol of Heb. autonomy (2 Kings 25:18-21; Jer 52:24-27). In 1 Chronicles 6:12-14, he is mentioned among Levi’s descendants through the line of Hilkiah and Zadok. He was the father of Jehozadak who was taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar, and the grandfather of Joshua, the postexilic high priest. Ezra was also a descendant of this Seraiah (1 Chron 6:14f., Ezra 7:1, where “son” means “descendant”).

3. The son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite. One of a number of captains who submitted to Gedaliah at Mizpah when Gedaliah was made governor by Nebuchadnezzar. Gedaliah advised them to accept Babylonian rule (2 Kings 25:23f., Jer 40:8f.) and promised to treat them fairly (Jer 40:10). When an Ammonite plot led to the slaughter of Gedaliah by Ishmael of the family of David, Seraiah and others fled into Egypt.

4. A second son of Kenaz (1 Chron 4:13, 14). He was the brother of Othniel and the father of Joab, of the tribe of Judah.

5. A Simeonite prince, the son of Asiel (1 Chron 4:35). He was the father of Joshibiah, and the grandfather of Jehu.

6. One of the returnees who accompanied Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (Ezra 2:2; 1 Esd 5:8). Perhaps identical with the Seraiah of Nehemiah 12:1, 12. He is called Azariah in Nehemiah 7:7.

7. One of the signers of the covenant of Ezra (Neh 10:2). Some identify him with number six above.

8. A priest, son of Hilkiah, who served as “ruler of the house of God” in Jerusalem (Neh 11:11).

9. The son of Azriel, an officer of king Jehoiakim in 604 b.c. who was commanded to arrest Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch (Jer 36:26) because of Jeremiah’s prophecies that had been read to the king.

10. A Judean prince who served as quartermaster. He was a son of Neriah. He went with Zedekiah to Babylon in the king’s fourth year (594). He conveyed Jeremiah’s prophecy to Babylon. When Jeremiah’s prophecy was read, the scroll was to be submerged in the Euphrates (Jer 51:59ff.). Some think he is the same as number three above. According to Jeremiah 32:12, he was a brother of Baruch.

Bibliography T. Laetsch, Bible Commentary: Jeremiah (1952); E. Leslie, Jeremiah (1954); J. Bright, Anchor Bible: Jeremiah (1965).