SHEMA she mə' (שְׁמַ֖ע, he (God) has heard). 1. A city included in the tribal inheritance of Judah (Josh 15:26) prob. to be identified with Sheba, in the extreme S.

2. A son of Hebron, descended from Caleb, connected with the tribe of Judah (1 Chron 2:43, 44).

3. The son of Joel, of the tribe of Reuben (1 Chron 5:8), possibly the same as Shimei in v. 4.

4. A Benjaminite, the head of his clan in Aijalon, who helped to defeat the Philistine inhabitants of Gath (1 Chron 8:13). His name appears as Shimei in v. 21 (Shimhi in KJV).

5. A priest (prob.) who stood at Ezra’s right hand and participated in the reading and exposition of the law in the great national ceremony in Jerusalem (Neh 8:4). In 1 Esdras 9:43 (KJV) he is called Sammus.