G. E. PO.ST.
SHITTIM (cryn always with def. art. 'the acacias,' see preceding article). — One of the limits of the camping-ground of the children of I.srael in the plains of Moab, Nu SS" (here only it is called AnKL-SHlTTlM). According to Nu 25' the anger of the Lord was there kindled against Lsrael for joining him.self unto Baal-pcor. The spicH were sent out from Shittim (Jos 2'), and from thence the children of Israel moved to Jordan before cro.ssing the river (Jos 3'). These are the only places where the word occurs in the Ilexateuch. The LXX in the last three passages has i:o7-Ttl>' in B (v is omitted in .\ of Jos 2'). In Nu XV I!«X<rd in B and BtXcrarW/i in A are renderings of Abel-ahi(tim.
The word occurs twite in the Prophets : (1) Mic 6* 'from Shittim unto Gilgal.' By some this is regarded as a gloss ; others suggest that a part
of the text has been lost here — ' [remember that which I did] from Shittim unto Gilgal ' — with refer- ence to the wonders manifested at the passage of the Jordan. (2) Jl 3'" ' the valley of Shittim.' The Heb. word hero used for ' valley ' (^-} ' wady ' ; see Bkook) is never api)Ued to the broad open space immediately N. of the Dead Sea in which Shittim was situated. The idea in the pa.ssage is similar to that in Ezk 47'-'^ Zee 14", and Rev 22'— waters (of life) issuin" from the house of God w<mld reach the Eastern (the Dead) and the Western (the Medi- terranean) seas. The ordinary cour.se of waters from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea would be along the Wady Silti M'triaui and Wady ca-N&r, the ancient Kidron called %i 2 S 15^ (cf. Driver, ad lac, in Camb. Bible for Schools and Colleges).
The LXX renderinjf in both these passages is Tai» ffx^'ivim. It has been proposed (ttie 8n£;t;e-stion is as old as Jerome) to rend ffX'*^, and then the translators would have considered tiie shitVah-tfee as equivalent to the niasticli.tree {axt^a, PUtachia- lenlUcxu), a tree common in Me<iiterranean countries. Tlie aerreement between these two passajres, and their variation from the renderings in the Hex., are noteworthv (cf. Rvssel on MicOi). A. T. Chap.man.
SHIZA (NIV ; B Sacfd, A ISex", N -ff<i, Luc. -iial). — The father of a Keubenite chief, 1 Ch 11«.
SHOAd'ic"; 'B1ovi,A.Zo{iS; tyranni). — Apparently a race-name. It is mentioned in connexion witn the Babylonians, Chalda?ans, Pekod, Koa, and all the As.syrians (Ezk 23-'), whose- relations with Jeru- salem had been intimate, and who were to come up and sit in judgment tijjon her. According tc Schrader (KAT- p. 425), Shoa is the Assyrian Suti'i, the name of a people who are constantly associated in the inscriptions with the Kutii. The land of Sntil is identitied by Delitzsch [Par. p. 233, etc.) with the district that extends eastward from the Tigris to the southern declivities of the Medo-Elamite mountains. C. W. WlLSON.
SHOBAB (3;iB»).— 1. One of David's sons, 2 S 5" (B ■^Lwpa^, A la^aUv, Luc. 'IffffffjSdy), 1 Ch 3' (B ru/Jdi/, A Luc. Za^afi), 14' (B "Iiro/SodM [i.e. cjic'i ' and Shobam ' ?], A 'Zui^ifl, Luc. T^ufiri^). 2. A Calebite, 1 Ch 2" (B 'lacroii/S, A 2uj3dj3, Luc. 2ou^d^).
SHOBACH (^3W; B Sw^Sdit, A 2a;3dit; Sobach).— A general in the army of Hadadezcr, king of Syria, at the time of the war with Amnion (2 S 10'"). Ho is not mentioned as taking part in the battle near Habbah, where Joab and Abishai routed the combined forces of Ammon and Syria, and we may infer that he did not become ' captain of the host of Hadadezcr' until after that event. The victory of Joab docs not seem to have been fol- lowed up (see KAUliAH), and before long the Syrians aj^ain prepared to attack the newly- founded king<loni of Israel. For this purpose Hadadezcr gathered all the forces at his com- mand, even the distant tribes from 'beyond the river': the latter were led by Shobach, who was apparently placed in command of the whole Syrian arm}'. In the engagement that ensued at Helam on the east of Jordan, David commanded the Israelite army in person, and utterly defeated the Syrians. Shobach was mortally wounded in the battle, and his fall doubtless contributed to tlie rout of the Syrians(2 S lO'"'"). In the parallel narrative (1 Ch ly"-'") his name is given as Shophach (■51=' ; B Zaxpdp and :^a<txi8, A Zui^ix and -u,idx, N* 'Eauipdp, N<^' 'Eaoxpdx). J. F. SteNNING.
SHOBAI Cjy).— A family of gatekeepers, Ezr 2** (B 'AjSooi), A Luc. 2(.>^oi) = Neh 7" (B 2o/Sfi, A 2a;3ai, Luc. Zufiai)
508
SHOBAL
SHOPHACH
SHOBAL (Syr).—!. A 'son ' of Seir the Ilorite, and one of the 'dukes' of the Iloiites, Gn 36-"- =3- 29 (::w3d\)= 1 Ch 1»; ■"> (BA :^w;ia\, Luc. roi'/SaX). 2. A Calebite f.imily in the tribe of Judah. This Shobal is called in 1 Ch 4'-= (BA i:ou;idX, Luc. ^ui3a\) a 'son' of Jiulah, and in 2»- (B "^w^ap, A 2w^d\, Luc. 2«/3d)»2 (BA 2w;3dX, Luc. 2«;3d) ' son ' of Caleb and 'father' of Kiriath-jearini. The name is proltablj' to be connected, if not identiliod, with No. 1 ; see Wellh. de Gentibus, etc. 39.
SHOBEK (F?ic' ; BA Zui^vk, Luc. ^wftHp).- One of the chiefs of the peojile who sealed the covenant, Neh 10=* R.