Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadInternational Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Shamir (1)
Subjects in this Topic:
shā´mẽr (ש×מיר, shaÌ„mı̄r; ΣαμειÌÏ, SameıÌr):
(1) Mentioned along with Jattir and Socoh () as one of the cities of Judah in the hill country. Possibly it is Khirbet (or Umm) Sōmerah, 2,000 ft. above sea-level, a site with ancient walls, caves, cisterns and tombs not far West of Debı̂r (edh Dhatherı̂yeh) and 2 miles North of Anab (‛Anab) (Palestine Exploration Fund, III, 262, 286, Sh XX).
(2) A place in the hill country of Ephraim () from which came “Tola, the son of Pual, a man of Issachar,†who judged Israel 23 years; he died and was buried there. It is an attractive theory (Schwartz) which would identify the place with the semi-fortified and strongly-placed town of Sanur on the road from NaÌ„blus to Jenı̂n. A local chieftain in the early part of the last century fortified Sanur and from there dominated the whole district. That Sanur could hardly have been within the bounds of Issachar is an objection, but not necessarily a fatal one. It is noticeable that the Septuagint's Codex Alexandrinus has ΣαμαÌÏεια, SamaÌreia, for Shamir (Palestine Exploration Fund, II, Sh XI).