Sherebiah

Biblical Record

Sherebiah is a Levite who appears in the Old Testament books of Ezra and Nehemiah. He is introduced in connection with the descendants of Mahli within the tribe of Levi. The text records nothing about his birth, family relationships, or death.

• Joining the return (Ezra 8:18): When Ezra gathered people by the river Ahava to return from Babylon to Jerusalem, he noticed that there were no Levites among them and sent for some. Sherebiah then joined the company along with his sons and brethren, eighteen in all.
• Carrying the holy vessels (Ezra 8:24): Ezra set apart Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and others, and weighed out to them the silver, gold, and vessels to be offered to the temple. Upon reaching Jerusalem, they delivered these to the temple (Ezra 8:24–34).
• Explaining the Law (Nehemiah 8:7): When Ezra read the book of the Law before the people, the Levites caused the people to understand the Law, and Sherebiah was among them.
• Prayer of repentance (Nehemiah 9:4–5): On the day the people fasted and confessed their sins, he stood upon the stairs and cried out to God. He is then named among the Levites who called on the people to stand up and bless the LORD.
• Sealing the covenant (Nehemiah 10:12): His name appears in the list of Levites who set their seal to the covenant document in which the people pledged to keep the Law.
• Chief of the Levites (Nehemiah 12:8; 12:24): He appears in a list of Levites. He is also recorded, together with Hashabiah, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, as one of the chiefs of the Levites who gave praise and thanks according to their courses (rotations), as appointed by David.

Significance within Scripture

Sherebiah's name illustrates the roles the Levites filled when the returning exile community reestablished temple worship and a life centered on the Law: guarding the holy things, teaching the Word, leading repentance, and offering praise. Ezra 8:18 attributes the finding of the Levites to "the good hand of our God upon us." Sherebiah is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretations and Debates

• One person or several? The list in Nehemiah 12:1–8 names those who returned with Zerubbabel. Because that return preceded Ezra's by several decades, it is unclear whether the Sherebiah of the various passages is the same person in every case. Some scholars regard the name as that of a Levitical family rather than of a single individual.
• Who is the "man of understanding"? The Korean Revised Version renders "a man of understanding" in Ezra 8:18 as though he were someone other than Sherebiah. Other translations, by contrast, take the phrase as referring to Sherebiah himself and render it accordingly.
• Priest or Levite? In the Korean Revised Version, Ezra 8:24 reads as though Sherebiah and Hashabiah were included among "the chief of the priests." In other passages, however, they are Levites. For this reason some translations render the verse as Ezra setting apart twelve priests and, separately, Levites such as Sherebiah and Hashabiah.
• The meaning of "causing to understand" the Law: The Levites' work in Nehemiah 8:7–8 is commonly interpreted as explaining the meaning of the text. Some Jewish traditions understand it as translation into Aramaic, the language the people spoke.
• Whose prayer? The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament) is known to contain a line introducing the long prayer of Nehemiah 9 as Ezra's prayer. Interpretations differ as to whether the Levites offered this prayer together.

No widely circulated extrabiblical traditions add to the account of his life.

In the Korean Church

Sherebiah himself is rarely the focus of sermons or Sunday school lessons. He is mentioned mainly as one of the Levites who explained the Word in sermons or Bible studies on the scene in Nehemiah 8 where the Law is read in the square before the Water Gate. This scene is frequently cited in expository preaching and in sermons emphasizing the recovery of the Word.