SHECANIAH

of the name. 2. A son of Heman (1 Ch 25« [v.^" Shubael]).

SHECANIAH.— 1. A descendant of Zerub. (1 Ch 3S1. 22 cf Ezr 8' [1 Es 8^' Sechenias]). 2. An exile who returned (Ezr 8' [1 Es S^^ Sechenias]). 3. Chief of the tenth course of priests (1 Ch 24"). 4. A priest (2 Ch 31"). 5. A contemporary of Ezra (Ezr 10^ [1 Es 8'2 Jechonias]). 6. The father of Shemaiah (Neh 32s). It is possible that he and No. 1 are identical.

7. The father-in-law of Tobiah the Ammonite (Neh B's).

8. The eponym of a family which returned with Zerub-babel (Neh 12'). It is the same name which, by inter-change of & and k, appears as Shebaniah in Neh 10' 12".

SHECHEM.— 1. Gn 33" 342- * etc. See Jacob, Hamob. 2. A Manassite dan, Nu 26'! W> (the Shechemites), Jos 172, 1 Ch 7". 3. See next article.

SHECHEM. — The place in which Jacob for a while established himself (Gn 33", Jn 412). Here he is said to have dug the well consecrated by Christ's conversation with the Samaritan woman, and still shown to travellers, with a claim to authenticity which is lacking in the vast majority of the so-called 'holy places.' It was evidently a place of sanctity: there was a great oak (or terebinth) here — no doubt a sacred tree — where Jacob hid his teraphim (Gn 35<). and under which Joshua gave his parting address to the elders (Jos 24). A great stone under the tree was traditionally connected with the latter event (24i»). This is no doubt the reason why Shechem was a Levitical city, and also a city of Jetuge (200. The city, however, remained Canaanite after the conquest, serving the local god Baal- berith (Jg 9'): Gideon's concubine, mother of Abime-lech, was a Canaanitess from Shechem, and her relatives set up her son as a king, to his and their own destruction (Jg9). Here Rehoboamalienatedthe Northern Kingdom by his overbearing speech (1 K 12'), and Jeroboam for a time was established here (12*«). It was not a place of importance before the Exile, though continuously inhabited down to and after that event (Jer 41'). The development of the Samaritan nation led to its rise. It was known at this period to the natives by the name Mabortha (Jos. BJ iv. viii. 1), but the name by which It was generally known, after its re-building by Titus Flavins Vespasianus, was Flavia Neapolis, or, more briefly, Neapolis — a name which still persists in the modem Arabic form NSblus, though usually Roman or Greek names imposed on Palestinian sites have dis-appeared, the older names persisting.

In the Byzantine period there was a bishopric at Neapolis, of which we know little — save that the Samaritans in a.d. 474 wounded the bishop, and were in consequence severely punished by the emperor Zeno. The city fell to the Crusaders in 1099, and several churches were there built by them — one of which still survives in part as a mosque. In 1 184 it was re-conquered by Saladin. The inhabitants have always been noted for turbulence and lawlessness. Towards the end of the 18th century it was a storm-centre of the inter-tribal wars of the fellahln, the leader of the district being the notorious Kasim el-Ahmad.

It is now a town of some 24,000 inhabitants, all Moslems except about 150 Samaritans and 700 Christians. They are concerned in extensive soap manufacture, and in trade in wool and cotton with Eastern Palestine. There are Protestant and Eoman Catholic missions, and an important English hospital directed by the Church Missionary Society.

In or near the town are shown 'Jacob's well,' which, as already said, is not improbably authentic; and a shrine covering the traditional 'tomb of Joseph,' the genuineness of which is perhaps less unassailable.

R. A. S. Macalisteh. SHEDEUR.— The father of Elizur (Nu 1= 2'» 7=" 10").

SHEEP.—

1. taon, 'small cattle,' such as sheep and goats, Gn 4^

SHEKINAH

etc.; a single sheep or goat. Ex 22'. 2. seh, Dt 14' etc., a sheep or goat; collectively, like 1, in Is 7» etc 3. 'ami, Gn IS' 'rim.' 4. racAei, Gn 31» 32", Ca6« etc., 'ewe.' See prop, name Rachel. B. iar, Dt 32" etc., young lamb, e. kebes, Nu 7'6, Is 5", and keseb,l.v 3', a lamb from one to three years old; the lamb of saonfice. 7. talehiAmh. fully), 1 s 7S Is 40" 65**. a lamb, older than the preceding. 8. ■immariAmm.). Ezr 6«, 'lamb.' 9. In Gn 33;» AVm has 'lambs' as tr. of gesUSh. See Kesitah 10. (Gr.) amnps, Jnl^^'etc 'lamb.' ll.aren.Lk IQSeto., 'lamb.' 12.armon Rev 5' etc., the equivalent of Heb. keseb. 13. probaton, Jn 10'- 2- ^- ' etc., a general term like Nos. 1 and 2.

The common sheep of Palestine is the fat-tailed sheep (Puis aries, var. laticaiulata). The mass of tail-fat la sometimes enormous; it is the 'whole rump' (Heb. and Arab, 'alyah) of Ex 29^', Lv 3' etc. Sheep are usually pastured with goats except when the land is too rocky and barren for the former. The flock is led by the shepherd, though the shepherd's boy may bring up the rear; on a journey a shepherd of experience must drive the flock (Gn 33"), while another leads. When away from villages, the sheep are herded at night in folds, which are roughly made enclosures of piled-up stones; the shepherd lives in a cave or hut adjoining, and is in very intimate touch with his sheep, each of which he knows unfailingly at a glance. The skin of a sheep, roughly tanned with all the wool on, is the common winter jacket IJurmeh) of a shepherd or peasant. To kill a sheep or lamb for a stranger's meal is one of the first acts of Bedouin hospi-tality. In the country, sheep are killed only in such circumstances or in honour of some festive occasion (cf. 1 S 25", 1 K 1"). E. W. G. Mastebman.

SHEEP GATE. — See Jeeusalem, II. 4. SHEERAH. — A 'daughter' of Ephraim, 'who, according to the MT of 1 Ch 7^', built the two Beth-horons and a place of doubtful identity called TTzzen-sheerah=' portion [7 lit. something weighed]ot Sheerah.' SHEHARIAH.— A Benjamite (1 Ch 8™). SHEET.— See Dhess, 4 (d).

SHEKEL. — See Money.Weiqhts and Measuees, III. SHEKINAH (from Heb. shakan — 'to dwell,' meaning 'dwelling' [abstract], or 'that which dwells'). — The word is not found in OT, but occurs often in other Jewish literature, always of God. The OT, particularly in certain of its writings, uses 'anthropomorphisms' freely, e.g. it speaks of God dwelling in a place or being seen. Later thought objected to this, as materializing the Divine nature; hence in the Targums (Aram, para-phrases of the OT used, though not in their present form, by the 1st cent, a.d.) various devices were adopted to prevent popular misunderstandings. Periphrases were used for the Divine name, 'the Word' (Memra), ' Spirit,' or ' Wisdom ' being substituted. One of the most important of these was the 'Shekinah.' 'God dwells' usually became 'the Shekinah rests'; 'the temple of God' became 'the house of the S.' (note the Tabernacle was the mishkan, from the same root) . Gn 28" becomes 'the glory of the S. of J" is in this place'; Is 6» 'my eyes have seen the glory of the S. of the King of the world.' God's hiding His face is the removal of the S. Now the presence of God (especially in P and related writings) was often manifested by a fiery appearance, or a light in a cloud. It was so in nature (Ps 18'°), on Sinai (Ex 24'^), in the wilderness and in the Tabernacle (16' 29" 403', Nu 14'»), in the Temple (1 K 8"); cf. Ezk 1^8 etc. This glory was not God, but an effluence from Him, or from His Shekinah. For the S. was not 'the glory,' as is usually imagined, but the source and centre of it. It is a stage nearer to God Himself, and, though often used in connexion with the physical manifestation, represents an invisible and universal presence. E.g. it is the source of inspiration. Eli failed to recognize Hannah's condition, because it had left him. It was present where three were gathered to administer justice. According to some, it was inseparable from Israel, still hovering over the west wall of the Temple.

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