In settling the question all must depend on the mean- ing of 1I3TS, whether it means only " to separate," or whether it occurs also in the sense of " to pronounce distinctly." In the latter sense it occurs very often, especially in the Targum and Talmud, as Dr. Fiirst has shown against Dr. Nestle in Z. d. d. m. G. 1879, xxxiii, 297, claiming that Q'ljri rx 11)1^3 is only the Aramaized form for D-il PX "l^ZTPI, "to pronounce
distinctly the name of God." In the Mishna (Yoma, vi, 2) we are told that both the priests and people, when they heard, on the Day of Atonement, the iI3"l1E -H DIU, fell to the ground ; and we are also told that the voice of the high-priest, when he pronounced "the name," on the Day of Atonement, was heard as far as Jericho.
Whatever may be the meaning of this word in a philological point of view, Jewish tradition ascribed to it great power. By means of the Shem hammepiiorash Christ is said to have performed his miracles; Moses is said to have slain the Egyptian by the same means. An}' one interested in these and other silly stories will find them in Eisenmenger, Neuentdecktes Judenthum, i, 154 sq. See, besides the essays of Nestle and Furst al- ready quoted, also Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. (ed. Fischer), p. 1205 sq. ; Geiger, Urschrift der Bibel, p. 2C3 sq. See Jehovah. (B. P.)
Practically, Shem-hammephorash is a cabalistic word among the Kabbinical Jews, who reckon it as of such importance that Moses spent forty days on IVIount Sinai in learning it from the angel Saxael. It is not, how- ever, the real word of power, but a representation of it. The rabbins differ as to whether the genuine word con- sisted of twelve, or forty-two, or seventy-two letters, and try by their gematria, or cabalistic arithmetic, to reconstruct it. They affirm that Jesus stole it from the Temple, and by its means was enabled to perform many wonderfid works. It is now lost, and hence, according to the rabbins, the lack of power in the prayers of Israel. They declare that if any one were able rightly and de- voutly to pronounce it, he would by this means be able to create a world. It is alleged, indeed, that two letters of the word inscribed by a cabalist on a tablet and thrown into the sea raised the storm which, A.D. 1542, destroyed the fleet of Charles V. They say, further, that if you write this name on the person of a prince, you are sure of his abiding favor. The rationale of its virtue is thus described by Mr. Alfred Vaughan in his Hours with the Mystics: '"The Divine Being was sup- posed to have commenced the work of creation by con- centrating on certain points the primal, universal Light. Within the region of these was the appointed place of our world. Out of the remaining luminous points, or foci, he constructed certain letters — a heavenly alpha- bet. These characters he again combined into certain creative words, whose secret potency produced the forms of the material world. The word ' Shem-hammepho- rash' contains the sum of these celestial letters, with aU their inherent virtue, in its mightiest combination."
Shemi'da (Heb. Shemida', 'S^'^'O'C , fame of know- ing, i.e. wise ; Sept. 'Eeiiipd, v. r. Hvnapifi, 'Svj.iaEp, etc.), one of the sons of Gilead (Josh, xvii, 2), fifth named among the six, and progenitor of the family of the She- midaites (Numb, xxvi, 32). His three "sons" are men- tioned (1 Chron. vii, 19, A. V. " Shemidah"). B.C. post 185(3.
Shemi'dah (1 Chron. vii, 19). See Shemida.
Shemi'daite (Heb. with the art. in the sing, used collectivelv, hash-Shemidai', "'S'l^^'i'ln, patronymic from Shemida; Sept. o '2vpaipf),fi designation (Numb. xxvi, 32) of the descendants of Shemida (q. v.), the son of Gilead, who obtained their inheritance among the male posterity of INIanasseh (Josh, xvii, 2, where they are called "children of Shemida").
Shem'inith (Heb. with the art., hash-Sheminith' , n'^5"irni"ri, fem. sing, of ■'p'QTIJ, eighth.) The title of Psa. vi contains a direction to the leader of the stringed instruments of the Teinple choir concerning the manner in which the psalm was to Ije sung. "To the chief musician on Neginoth upon Sheminith,"or " the eiglitli," as the margin of the A. V. has it, and as the same word is elsewhere rendered (Lev. xxv, 32, etc.). A similar direction is found in the title of Psa. xii. The Sept. in both passages renders v—'tp vijg oySvijc:, and the Vulg.
SIIEMIRAMOTH
654
SHEMITIC LANGUAGES
pro octavii. Tlie (Icneva Version gives "upon the eighth tune." Keferring to 1 Chron. xv, "21, we tiiul that certain Levites were a|)iJointeil by David to play '■ with harjis on tlie .Sheminith," which the A'ulgate renders as above, and tlie Sept. by afiaatvi^, which is merely a corru|)tion of the Hebrew. The Geneva version ex- plains in the margin "'which was the eighth tune, over the which he that was the most excellent had charge." As we know nothing whatever of the music of the He- brews, all conjectures as to the meaning of their musical terms are necessarily vague and contradictory. With respect to Sheminith, most Rabbinical writers, as Kashi and Aben-Kzra, follow the Targum on the Psalms in regarding it as a harp with eight strings; but this has no foundation, and depends upon a misconstruction of 1 Chron. XV, 21. Gesenius {Thesaiir. s. v. ns") says it denotes the buss, in opposition to Alamoth (1 Chron. xv, 20), which signifies the treble. But as the meaning of Alamoth itself is very obscure, we cannot make use of it for determining the meaning of a term which, though distinct from, is not necessarily contrasted with it. Oth- ers, with the author ut'Skilte Haggibborim, interpret " the sheminitir as the octave ; but there is no evidence that the ancient Hebrews were acquainted with the octave as understood by ourselves. On comparing the man- ner in which the word occurs in the titles of the two psalms already mentioned with the position of the terms Aijeleth Shahar, Jonath-elem-rechokim, etc., in other psalms, which are generally regarded as indicating the melody to be employed by the singers, it seems proba- ble that Sheminith is of the same kind, and denotes a certain air known as the eighth, or a certain key in which the psalm was to be sung. Maurer (Comm. in Psa. ri) regards Sheminith as an instrument of deep tone like the violoncello, while Alamoth he compares with the violin ; and such, also, appears to be the view taken by Junius and Tremellius. — Smith. See Psalms. Shemir'amoth (Heb. Shemiramoth' , T^^^O~\'^^Q'^ , name of lieiyhts, i. e. Jehovah ; Sept. Sejt/tpa/iw^, v. r. 'Sif.upafj.wH, majieipa nij!y, etc.), the name of two Le- vites.