Shimri

Shimri (meaning: watchman) is the name of three individuals in the Old Testament. The first was a Simeonite, the son of Shemaiah and ancestor of Ziza, listed in the genealogy of Simeon in 1 Chronicles 4:37. The second was the father of Jediael, one of David's mighty men at Ziklag, described as one of the thirty warriors (1 Chronicles 11:45). The third Shimri was a Levite, the son of Hosah of the Merarite family, who was appointed as a gatekeeper of the ark of the covenant, with his father's house assigned to the south gate (1 Chronicles 26:10).

A fourth Shimri appears in 2 Chronicles 29:13 as a Levite who participated in the cleansing of the temple under Hezekiah's reform, consecrating himself and purifying the house of the Lord from the defilements accumulated under Ahaz. The name's meaning — watchman or guardian — appears in several different family and tribal contexts across the monarchic and Davidic periods.