Shalmai
שַׁלְמַי/SHAL-may/
“My peace or peaceable”
Summary
The ancestor of a family of Nethinim (temple servants) who returned from the Babylonian exile with Zerubbabel.
☩Identity
Shalmai (also spelled Shamlai and Salmai) was the head of a family of Nethinim, the temple servants who assisted the Levites. His descendants are listed among those who returned from Babylonian captivity in the initial wave of exiles under Zerubbabel around 536 BC. The name appears with slight variations in the parallel lists: Shalmai in Nehemiah, Shamlai in some manuscripts of Ezra, and Salami in the Septuagint.
Key verses:Ezra 2:46Nehemiah 7:48
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Shalmai," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IX (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Shalmai," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. IV (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).