2. A Keubenite, son of Gog and father of Micah (1 Chron. v, 4). B.C. post 1874.
3. A (Jershonite Levite, son of Jahath and father of Zimnah in the ancestry of Asaph (1 Chron. vi, 42 [Meb. 27J). B.C. cir. 1()95. Some have regarded him as iden- tical with the yoimger son of Gershon ( ver. 17 [Heb. 2]), but the other particulars do not allow this.
4. A Simeonite, son of Zacchur. and father of sixteen sons and six daughters (1 Chron. iv, 2(i, 27). B.C. ante 1018. lie was perliaps the same witli Shemai.\h (q. v.) the ancestor of Ziza (1 Chron. iv, 37).
5. (Jne of the heads of the families ofBenjamites res- ident at .Jerusalem ( 1 Chron. viii, 21 , A. V. " Shimhi" ) ; apparently the same with Smema (q. v.) the son of El- paal (ver. 13). B.C. post 1018.
6. A citizen of Bamah appointed overseer of David's vineyards (I Cliron. .xxvii. 27). B.C'. 1043.
7. The sou iif (iera, a Itenjamite of the house of Saul, who lived at Mahurim during the reign of David, and is associated with some of the most painfid transactions of the reign of lliat monarch and his successor. His resi- dence there agrees witli the otlier notices of the ]ilace, OS if a marked spot on the way to and from the .Jordan valii'V to .Jerusalem, and just witliin the border <jf Ben- jamin. See l>Alii'lMM. He may Ijave received the unfortunate I'lialtiel after liis separation from Michal (2 Sam. iii, 1(5).
1. When David and his suite were seen descending the long defile from Olivet on his fhglit from Absalom (2 Sam. xvi, 5-13), the whole feeling of the clan of Ben- jamin burst fortli without restraint in the ])erson of Shimei. His house apparently was separated from the
road by a deep valley, yet not so far as that anything that he did or said could not l)e distinctly heard. He ran along the ridge, cursing, throwing stones at the king and his companions, and when be came to a patch of dust on the dry hill-side, taking it up and throwing it over them. Abishai was so irritated that, but for Da- vid's remonstrance, he would have darted across the ravine (^ver. 9) and torn or cut off ins head. The whole conversation is remarkable, as showing what may al- most be called the slang terms of abuse prevalent in the two rival courts. The cant name for David in Shimei's mouth is " the man of blood," twice empliatically re- peated : " Come out, come out, thou man of blood" — " A man of blood art thou" (xvi, 7, 8). It seems to have been derived from the slaughter of the sons of Saul (ch. xxi), or generally perhaps from David's predatory, war- like life (comp. 1 Chron. xxii, 8). The cant name for a Benjamite in Abishai's mouth was ''a dead dog" (2 Sam. xvi, 9; comp. Abiier's expression, "Am I a dog's head?" iii, 8). "Man of Belial" also appears to have been a favorite term on both sides (xvi, 7 ; xx, 1). The royal party passed on, Shimei following them with his stones and curses as long as they were in sight. (See Lorenz. De Crimine Siinei in Ducidem [Strasb. 1749].) B.C. 1023.
2. The next meeting was very different. The king was now returning from his successful campaign. Just as he was crossing the Jordan, in the ferry-boat or on the bridge (2 Sam. xix, 18 ; Sept. SiafiairovTOC ; Jose- phus, A nf. vii. 2, 4, itti t)]v jt(pvpcn>), the first person to welcome him on the western, or perhaps even on the eastern, side was Shimei, who may have seen him ap- proaching from the heights above. He threw himself at David's feet in abject penitence. "He was the first," he said, " of all the house of Joseph,''^ thus indicating the close political alliance between Benjamin and E|ihraim. Another altercation ensued between David and Abishai, which ended in David's guaranteeing Shimei's life with an oath (2 Sara, xix, l>S-23),in consideration of the gen- eral jubilee and amnesty of the return. B.C. 1023.
3. But the king's suspicions were not set to rest by this submission ; and on his death-bed he recalls the whole scene to the recollection of his son Solomon. Shimei's head was now white with age (1 Kings ii, 9), and he was living in the favor of the court at Jerusa- lem (ver. 8). B.C. 1013. Solomon gave him notice that from henceforth he must consider himself confined to the walls of Jerusalem on pain of death. The Kidron, which divided him from tlie road to his old residence at Bahurim. was not to be crossed. He was to build a house in Jerusalem (ii, 36, 37). For three years the en- gagement was kept. At the end of that time, for the purjiose of capturing two .slaves who had escaiied to Gath, he went out on his ass and made his journey suc- cessfully (ii, 40). On his return, the king took him at his word, and he was slain by Benaiah ( ii, 41-4G). B,C. 1009. In the sacred historian, and still more in Jose- phus (Ant. viii, 1, 5), great stress is laid on Shimei's having broken liis oath to remain at home; so that his death is regarded as a judgment, not only for his previ- fius treason, but for liis recent sacrilege, — Smith, (See Ortlol), De J'7-ocef:g!t iSol. contra jShimei [Lips. 1719].) See David; Solomon.