Shammah (son of Jesse)

Biblical Record

Shammah is introduced as the third son of Jesse of Bethlehem.

The anointing of David. In 1 Samuel 16, Samuel, acting at God's direction, seeks the one among Jesse's sons who is to become king. Jesse has his sons pass before Samuel one by one. After the firstborn, Eliab, and the second son, Abinadab, Shammah passes by, and Samuel again says, "Neither hath the LORD chosen this" (1 Samuel 16:9). In the end the youngest, David, who had been keeping the sheep in the field, receives the anointing.

The battle with Goliath. 1 Samuel 17:13 records that Jesse's three eldest sons, Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah, followed Saul to war against the Philistines. Shammah was therefore in the camp in the Valley of Elah at the time of the David and Goliath episode. In this account, however, Eliab is the only brother whose words or actions are recorded (1 Samuel 17:28).

The name Shimea. 1 Chronicles 2:13 names Jesse's third son "Shimma" (rendered Shimea or Shimeah elsewhere). Because the birth order is the same, Shammah and Shimea are generally regarded as the same person. On this view, "Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother," mentioned in 2 Samuel 13:3, was Shammah's son. Jonadab was the man who devised the scheme by which Amnon violated Tamar. In 2 Samuel 21:21 and 1 Chronicles 20:7, Jonathan, who killed the giant of Gath, is likewise introduced as "the son of Shimea David's brother."

Significance in Scripture

Shammah is not the central figure of any narrative of his own. He appears as one of the brothers not chosen in the account of God selecting David by a standard different from that of human beings. The meaning of this scene is summed up in 1 Samuel 16:7: "for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." The New Testament does not mention Shammah.

Interpretive Issues

• The number of sons. 1 Samuel gives the number of Jesse's sons as eight and presents David as the eighth (1 Samuel 16:10–11; 17:12). 1 Chronicles 2:13–15 lists only seven sons and places David seventh. Both texts agree in placing Shammah (Shimea) third. Various explanations have been offered for the discrepancy, including the suggestion that a son who died young was omitted.
• Details not found in the text. Sermons and story Bibles sometimes portray all the brothers as looking down on David. In the text, however, only Eliab rebukes David; nothing is recorded about Shammah's character or attitude.
• Others of the same name. The Bible also mentions other men named Shammah: Shammah the son of Reuel, an Edomite chief (Genesis 36:13), and Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite, one of David's mighty men, who defended a field against the Philistines (2 Samuel 23:11–12). These are different people from Shammah the son of Jesse.

In the Korean Church

Shammah is mentioned as one of the brothers in sermons and Sunday school lessons on 1 Samuel 16 that deal with the anointing of David. He is rarely treated as a subject in his own right.