Today in the Bible

Av 19, 5784; from sunset August 22, 2024, to sunset August 23, 2024

(The nineteenth day of the fifth month)

Today in the Bible, we’re reading a rare verse.  To date, we’ve been remembering man after man after man who is identified by who his father and grandfather are.  Today, we are meeting Shallum, a man who performed the work of restoring the wall with his daughters!  What a breath of fresh air.  If we only knew their names.  The truth is, we don’t, but kudos to Shallum’s daughters for getting their hands dirty and putting their shoulder to the task.

שַׁלּוּם

Shallum

The name Shallum is found 26 times in the Bible. Probably the most famous Shallum was one of the kings of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. 2 Kings 15 tells the story of how he conspired against King Zechariah, son of Jeroboam II. Shallum killed Zechariah in front of the people and grabbed the throne for himself. Shallum was also the name of one of Josiah’s sons, king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. There are many other Shallum’s scattered throughout 1 and 2 Chronicles. The name Shallum is also connected with the gatekeepers in 1 Chronicles 9, Ezra chapters 2 and 10, and Nehemiah chapter 7.

Our Shallum was the governor over half the district of Jerusalem. Jerusalem sits on the border of the tribal lands of Judah and Benjamin. Scholars believe he was probably a leader in Benjamin. And, as we’ve stated, one of the most unique things about our Shallum is that his daughters worked alongside him to restore the wall of Jerusalem.

This name is similar to the name Meshullam that we studied a few days ago. It, too, comes from the root word “shalem” (שלם) which means “to be complete or whole.” The word “shillum” (שִׁלּוּם) also stems from this root. It means “recompense.”

Verb Root	Transliteration	Meaning
שלם	shalem	to be complete or whole
Word	Transliteration	Meaning
שִׁלּוּם	shillum	recompense

“Shillum” means “Recompense” or “Retribution.”

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Shallum was the son of Hallohesh.

הַלּוֹחֵשׁ

Hallochesh = Hallohesh

The name Hallohesh only appears twice in the Bible.  Both of those occur in the book of Nehemiah.  This is another name that starts with “ha” which prefixed to a word means “the” or “of.”  The root of his name is “lachash” (לחש) which means “to whisper or charm.”  In the Bible, words stemming from this root seem to revolve around snakes and snake-charmers.  As a snake hisses, so does a whisperer.

Prefix	Transliteration	Function
ה	h	indicates the “definite article” (“the”); an example of the definite article would be if I asked you to bring me a spoon, you may assume that any old spoon would do; but if I asked you to bring me “the” spoon, you would assume that I wanted a specific spoon
		if used in combination with another prefix it is found in second place; it may even be omitted and assumed to be present; in which case the vowel associated with the other prefix is changed to indicate the presence of the ה
ה	h	may also mean “of”
הֲ	ha	when associated with the “chataf patach” vowel point, this combination indicates an interrogative form, in other words, a question

Root Word	Transliteration	Meaning
לחש	lachash	to whisper or charm

“Hallohesh” means “The Whisperer.”