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Sheal
Sheal
שְׁאָל she.al
Sheal (Hebrew: שְׁאָל, she.al) is a biblical name; its Hebrew etymology is not securely established. It appears once, at Ezra 10:29. In United States birth records the name is below the reporting threshold. Appears with Adaiah in Ezra 10.
The bearer in scripture
One person in scripture bears this name.
-
Sheal
Scripture against society
The two measures, side by side
At a glance
- Verses
- 1 across 1 book
- Bearers
- 1 one person only
- Testament
- Old
- Era
- Return
- Hapax
- Yes occurs exactly once
Using it today
In United States birth records this name is below the reporting threshold. The Social Security Administration does not publish counts under five, so a name given to four children looks the same as one given to none.
In scripture
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First appears | Ezra 10:29 |
| Cross-references | 4 linked passages |
Names connected to this one
- Adaiah co-occurrence Appears with Adaiah in Ezra 10.
- Jashub co-occurrence Appears with Jashub in Ezra 10.
- Meshullam co-occurrence Appears with Meshullam in Ezra 10.
- Jeremoth co-occurrence Appears with Jeremoth in Ezra 10.
- Malluch co-occurrence Appears with Malluch in Ezra 10.
- Bani co-occurrence Appears with Bani in Ezra 10.
Origin & meaning
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, only mentioned at Ezr.10.29
§ Sheal = "asking"
one of the sons of Bani who had a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
Sheal was one of the Israelites who had married a foreign woman and agreed to divorce her as part of Ezra's religious reforms.
The biblical story
Sheal, mentioned in Ezr.10.29, was one of the Israelites who had married a foreign woman during the time of Ezra. Following the Babylonian exile, when the Israelites returned to Jerusalem, Ezra discovered that many of them, including priests and Levites, had intermarried with the neighboring peoples. This was seen as a violation of God's law and a threat to the religious purity of the community. Ezra called for an assembly of the people and urged them to confess their sins and separate themselves from their foreign wives. Sheal was among those who agreed to divorce his foreign wife as part of this religious reform. The text does not provide any further details about Sheal's background or the specific circumstances of his marriage. However, his inclusion in the list of those who divorced their foreign wives highlights the importance of maintaining religious purity and the challenges faced by the Israelites in the post-exilic period.
Key verses
Sheal appears in 1 verse. Here are some of the most notable:
-
And of the sons of Bani; Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, and Ramoth.
Ezra 10:29
Show all 1 reference
Ezra (1)
- Ezra 10:29