Seraiah
Seraiah or Sraya (שְׂרָיָה "Soldier/Prince of/is the LORD", Standard Hebrew Səraya, Tiberian Hebrew Śərāyāh) is the name of several people mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, and a name with other non-biblical uses.
Biblical characters
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One of David's scribes or secretaries
High Priest
Contemporary of Zedekiah. He was later carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon, and there put to death (2 Kings 25:18)
Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth
(Jeremiah 40:8), one of the officials who survived the defeat and exile of Judea, a Netophathite (2 Kings 25:23).
The father of Joab
Also son of Kenaz (1 Chronicles 4:13, 14). It is unlikely that this Joab is the son of Tsruiah, King David's sister, because the Seraiah mentioned in the Book of Chronicles was the brother of Othniel, the nephew of Caleb, who lived centuries earlier. 1 Chronicles 4:13, Joshua 15:17.
The grandfather of Jehu
Also father of Joshibiah and son of Asiel (1 Chronicles 4:35).
One of those who returned from exile
Seraiah is listed among those who returned from exile with Zerubbabel in Ezra 2:2 and Nehemiah 12:1. Nehemiah 12:12 names him as the head of a priestly family.
Seraiah is named as the father of Ezra in Ezra's genealogy (Ezra 7:1). Charles Souvay, in the Catholic Encyclopedia, notes that he is often understood "in a broad sense", meaning that Seraiah, the chief priest, spoken of in 2 Kings 25:18–21 (at the time of the fall of Judah and the deportation to Babylon), was one of Ezra's ancestors.[1]
A ruler of the temple
An officer of King Jehoiakim
Son of Azriel (Jeremiah 36:26)
The son of Neriah. When Zedekiah made a journey to Babylon to do homage to Nebuchadnezzar, Seraiah had charge of the royal gifts to be presented on that occasion. Jeremiah took advantage of the occasion, and sent with Seraiah a word of cheer to the exiles in Babylon, and an announcement of the doom in store for that guilty city. The roll containing this message (Jeremiah 50:1–8) Seraiah was to read to the exiles, and then, after fixing a stone to it, was to throw it into the Euphrates, uttering, as it sank, the prayer recorded in Jeremiah 51:59–64. Babylon was at this time in the height of its glory, the greatest and most powerful monarchy in the world. Scarcely seventy years elapsed when the words of the prophet were all fulfilled. Jeremiah 51:59 is rendered in the Revised Version, "Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain," instead of "was a quiet prince," as in the Authorized Version.
Others
- Sariah - according to the Book of Mormon, the wife of Lehi, and the mother of Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi
- Zrahia, a religious moshav in southern Israel. Located near Kiryat Malakhi, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shafir Regional Council. Named after Seraiah, the father of Ezra and one of the Jews who came to the Land of Israel after their Babylonian captivity
Contemporary
- Serayah McNeill, American actress, singer
References
- ^ Souvay, Charles, Esdras (Or Ezra) in The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909, accessed 25 June 2020
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "Seraiah". Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons. Christian Classics Ethereal Library