Person Old Testament
Shemaiah
Shemaiah, an Israelite who was among those who had married foreign women during the exile. Mentioned once in Scripture, at Ezra 10:31.
Why it matters. Israelite who married a foreign woman
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Shemaiah
Shemaiah is mentioned in Ezr.10.31 as one of the descendants of Harim who had married a foreign woman. This was part of a larger issue facing the Jewish community after their return from Babylonian exile, as many had intermarried with the surrounding peoples. Ezra called for the people to separate themselves from their foreign wives and children to maintain the purity and integrity of the Jewish faith. Shemaiah, along with the other Israelites who had married foreign women, agreed to put away their wives in obedience to Ezra's directive.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Appears in Scripture
Named in 1 verse across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.
Ezra (1 verse)