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(Heb. Yesimiel', éְùַׂéîַéàֵì , appointed of God; Sept. É᾿óìáήë ), apparently one of the chief Simeonites who migrated to the valley of Gedor in search of pasture (1Ch_4:36). B.C. cir. 711. Jessaeans.
According to Epiphanius, the first distinctive appellation of Christians was Éåóóáῖïé , Jessaeans, but it is doubtful from whom the title was derived, or in what sense it was applied. Some suppose it was from Jesse, the father of David; others (and with far greater probability of accuracy) trace it to the name of the Lord Jesus. Philo is known to have written a work on the first Church of St. Mark at Alexandria, which he himself entitled ðåñὶ É᾿åóóáßùí , which is now extant under the title of ðåñἱ âßïõ èåùñçôéêïῦ (of the contemplative life), and so is cited by Eusebius even: Jerome, however, knew the work intimately, and for this reason gave Philo a place in his list of ecclesiastical writers. Eusebius also mentions the name Jessaeans as a distinctive appellation of the early Christians. Comp. Bingham, Antiq. bk. 1, ch. 1, § 1; Riddle, Christian Antiquities, p. 181.