SHETH

governor' (pechah), and is also said to have laid the foundations of the Temple (ct. 1 Es 6'8- »«). It is probable that the Persian title 'Tirshatha' in Ezr 2'', Neh 7"»- "> refers to Sheshbazzar.

Some have identified Sheshbazzar with Zerubbabel on the ground that the laying of the foundation of the Temple is in Ezr 3' ascribed to Zerubbabel and in 5" to Sheshbazzar, while instances of men bearing two different names occur not infrequently (e.g. 2 K 23" 24", Dn 1'). But, when we compare Ezr 3« and 5", it does not seem necessary to assume that the two men are identical. Both may have returned from Babylon at the same time, and while Sheshbazzar was the ruling official, Zerubbabel may in all likelihood have been the moving spirit in building the Temple. Ezr 3' gives the Chronicler's own account of the work, while Ezr 5 purports to be an official report, and would naturally mention the official head of the community as the person responsible for what occurred during his term of office. Then the possibility of the one person bearing two names, while not impossible, seems unlikely here, because (1) both names are of foreign origin, unlike the double names Daniel and Belieshazzar, where the one is Hebrew and the other foreign; and (2) as a rule the Chronicler is careful to note the identification — e.g. ■Daniel whose name xuas Belteshazzar.'

If, then, Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel were two differ-ent men, was Sheshbazzar a Jew or a foreigner? In all probability he was a Jew. It was quite in accordance with the policy of the Persians to appoint a Jew to act as governor in Jerusalem, while the name Sheshbazzar, being of Bab. origin, would not likely be borne by a Persian. It has been conjectured that Sheshbazzar is identical with the Shenazzar of 1 Ch 3'8, a son of Jehoiachin and imcle of Zerubbabel; and this would justify the title 'prince of Judah' given to him in Ezr 1'. Then, further, it is not unlikely that the younger man, Zerubbabel, took the leading part in the work of restoration, and as a result his uncle's memory would JEall into the background. This theory is made more probable by the fact that Zerubbabel succeeded to the governorship as early as the reign of Darius Hystaspis, B.C. 620 (cf. Hag H- " 2?). W. F. Boyd.

SHETH.— In Nu 24i' (only) AV and BVm tr. bera shith ' children (sons) of Sheth,' but there can be little doubt that the correct tr. is that of RV, ' sons of tumult.'

SHETHAR. — One of the seven princes who had the right of access to the royal presence (Est 1").

SHETHAR -BOZENAI. — One of those who corre-sponded with Darius about the re-building of the Temple (Ezr 5»- « 6«- IS). Called in 1 Es 6'- '• " 7' Sathrabuzanes.

SHEVA.— 1. A son of Caleb (1 Ch 2"). 2. See Shavsha.

SHEWBREAD. — In one of the oldest historical docu-ments preserved in the OT we find, in a passage telling of David's flight from Saul, the first mention of an offering in the shape of ' holy bread,' which was presented to J" in the sanctuary at Nob (1 S 21>-«). Here this holy bread is also termed 'the bread of the presence' (v.'), i.e. of J", which appears in EV as "shewbread' — a rendering due to Tindale, who adds the note, 'shew-brede, because it was alway in the presence and sight of the Lorde' (cf. v.=, which ends literally thus: 'the presence-bread, that was taken from the presence of J""). 'Presence-bread' is also the name for this special offering generally used in the Priests' Code — but 'continual bread' in Nu 4', contracted from the fuller expression 2 Ch 2'. The Chronicler, however, prefers another designation, which may be rendered ' pile-bread' (1 Ch 9^ 2325 etc., EV 'shewbread') and is to be ex-plained by the arrangement of the loaves in two piles (see below and cf. Lv 24« RVm).

After its first historical mention in connexion with the sanctuary of Nob, where it was periodically renewed —

SHIBBOLETH

at what Intervals is not stated — the presence-bread Is next met with in the Temple of Solomon. Here was an 'altar of cedar' (1 K 6™), which modern scholars regard as an altar for the presentation of the offering of the shewbread. It stood, according to the restored text, in front of the debir, or Most Holy Place, and it is to be identified with ' the table whereupon the shewbread was,' mentioned in 7" in a section of later date (see, for the composite text of these chapters, the authorities cited in art. Temple, and cf. ib. § 5). The same inter-change of ' altar ' and ' table ' is found in Ezk ll^^, cf . 44".

The table of shewbread to be provided for the Taber-nacle of P is discussed in the art. Tabernacle, § 6 (o) (cf. Temple, § 9). The preparation of the shewbread itself, which in the time of the Chronicler was the privi-lege of a division of the Levites (1 Ch 9'^), is prescribed in another section of P (Lv 24'-»). The offering consisted of twelve unleavened cakes of considerable size, since each cake contained a fifth of an ephah — an ephah held more than a bushel — of fine flour. The cakes or loaves were arranged on the table in two piles; on the top of each pile was placed an oblation of frankincense. The cakes were renewed 'every Sabbath day' (v.' RV); those removed were eaten by the priests alone within the sanctuary precincts, the shewbread being among 'the most holy of the offerings of the Lord' (v.').

As regards the original significance of the shewbread offering there can be no doubt. This antique form of oblation had its origin in pre-historic times in the naive desire to propitiate the deity by providing him with a meal (see Sacbifice and Offebing, § 16). This view is confirmed by the fact that it was accompanied, even in the later period, by a provision of wine, as Is clear from the mention of ' the flagons thereof, and the bowls thereof, to pour out withal' (Ex 252» RV, Nu 4'). The analogy of the classical lectisternia will at once suggest itself. Less familiar is the similar offering among the Babylonians, who laid cakes of 'sweet,' i.e. un-leavened, bread on the altars of various deities (see Zimmern's list in KAT' 600). The analogy between the Babylonian and Hebrew ritual is rendered still more striking by the identity of the name 'bread of the presence ' {loc. cit.), and of the number of cakes offered — twelve or a multiple of twelve. This number had probably an astrological origin, having reference originally to the twelve months of the year, or the twelve signs of the Zodiac. For the later Hebrews, at least, the twelve loaves of the presence-bread doubtless rep-resented the twelve tribes of Israel, and were interpreted as a symbolical expression of the nation's gratitude to God as the continual source of every material blessing. A. R. S. Kennedy.

SHIBAH. — A name given to a well dug by Isaac (Gn 26*'), which gave its name to the town Beersheba (wh. see). The word means, according to the writer, 'an oath'; and Beersheba is 'the well of the oajih,' so named from the swearing of the oath of friendship between Isaac and Abimelech (Gn 26"). In Gn 2122-" we have another account, according to which the well was dug by Abraham and received its name from the oath between Abraham and Abimelech. There is also a play on the word shebiVah, 'oath' and sheba\ 'seven,* as a sacrifice of seven lambs was offered. Perhaps the name, however, was already in existence before Abraham's time, and the writer simply gives a more or less plausible explanation of its derivation. W. F. Boyd.

SHIBBOLETH (means both 'ear of corn' and 'stream'). — In the strife that arose between the Gileadites, under Jephthah, and the Ephraimites, an episode occurred which is recounted in Jg 12'-'. Accord-ing to this, the Gileadites were holding the fords of Jordan in order to cut off the fugitive Ephraimites; but the only way of differentiating between friend and foe was to test a fugitive as to his pronunciation of such a word as ' Shibboleth,' In which the Ephraimite peculiarity

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