Shemariah

Shemariah (meaning: whom Jehovah guards or Jehovah has kept) is the name of three individuals in the Old Testament. The first was a Benjamite warrior of the ambidextrous soldiers who crossed to David at Ziklag before his accession, one of Jeroham's sons from Gedor (1 Chronicles 12:5). The second and third were among those Israelites who had married foreign wives and agreed to put them away in response to Ezra's reform of the covenant community (Ezra 10:32, 41).

Beyond these notices, no individual narratives about any of the three Shemariahss are recorded. The first represents the category of warriors who chose David's cause over Saul's before the monarchy was settled, while the latter two represent the community members who responded to Ezra's challenge to covenant faithfulness. The name expresses confidence in divine protection and was apparently in common use in the early monarchy and restoration periods.