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Jerahmeel

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The name Jerahmeel (Hebrew יְרַחְמְאֵל, Yəraḥməʾēl; Greek ιραμεηλ) appears several times in the Tanakh. It means "He will obtain mercy of God",[1] "God pities",[2] "May God have compassion",[3] "May God pity",[4] or "Moon from God".[5]

Bearers of the name

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There are probably three distinct persons of that name in the Tanakh.[1][2][3] In order of their lifetimes they are:

  1. a son of Hezron and great-grandson of Judah, as given in the extended genealogies in 1 Chronicles 2:9, 2:25–26 and 2:42.
  2. a son of Kish, one of the Levites appointed by David to administer the temple worship, as described in 1 Chronicles 24:29.
  3. a son of the king,[6] sent with others by Jehoiakim to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, as given in Jeremiah 36:26. An old bulla with the inscription "Jerahmeel the king's son" has been found and considered authentic.[7]

The Jerahmeelites

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The Jerahmeelites were a people, presumably descended from Jerahmeel number 1 above, living in the Negev, who David, while in service with the Philistines, claimed to have attacked (1 Samuel 27:10), but with whom he was really on friendly terms[4] (1 Samuel 30:29).

Cheyne developed a theory that made the Jerahmeelites into a significant part of the history of Israel,[2] but most subsequent scholars have dismissed his ideas as fanciful.[8]

An archangel

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In some deuterocanonical and apocryphal writings, there are references to an archangel variously called Jeremiel, Eremiel, Remiel, etc. See the article Jerahmeel (archangel).

Chronicles of Jerahmeel

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The Chronicles of Jerahmeel is a medieval document ascribed to the 12th century Jewish historian Jerahmeel ben Solomon, and is unrelated to any of the above.

References

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  1. ^ a b Alfred Jones, Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names 1856, republished Kregel Publications 1990
  2. ^ a b c , Rev. T. K. Cheyne; J. Sutherland Black. "Jerahmeel" (PDF). Encyclopædia Biblica. pp. columns 2363–2366.
  3. ^ a b Stenning, J. F. (1902). "Jerahmeel". In James Hastings (ed.). A Dictionary of the Bible.
  4. ^ a b Cook, Stanley Arthur (1911). "Jerahmeel" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 322.
  5. ^ Danby & Segal, A Concise English-Hebrew Dictionary, The Dvir Publishing Co. Tel Aviv, 1962, page 93
  6. ^ or, according to the interpretation of the King James version, a son of Hammelech
  7. ^ Avigad, Nachman. Baruch the Scribe and Yerahme'el the King’s Son. Israel Exploration Journal (IEJ) 28:52. 1978
  8. ^  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainSinger, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Jerahmeel". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.