Person Old Testament
Shemer
Shemer, the original owner of the hill of Samaria, which Omri bought from him. Mentioned once in Scripture, at 1 Kings 16:24.
Why it matters. Original owner of Samaria
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Shemer
Shemer was the original owner of the hill of Samaria, which would later become the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. According to 1Ki.16.24, Omri, the king of Israel, bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver. Omri then built a city on the hill and named it Samaria, after Shemer, the previous owner of the land. This transaction marked the establishment of a new capital for the northern kingdom, which would play a significant role in the history of Israel. Apart from this land sale, no other information is provided about Shemer's life or background.
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
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Appears in Scripture
Named in 1 verse across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.
1 Kings (1 verse)