From the New American Standard Version of the Bible, I Chronicles 7:21-24
Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to take their livestock.
22Their father Ephraim mourned many days, and his relatives came to comfort him.
23Then he went in to his wife, and she conceived and bore a son, and he named him Beriah, because misfortune had come upon his house.
24His daughter was Sheerah, who built lower and upper Beth-horon, also Uzzen-sheerah.
Nobody ever told me about a woman in the Old Testament who built three cities. It makes me wonder about her family, about the brothers who were raiding the livestock of Gath and got killed for it.
Was she trying to please her father, to make up for the sons who were lost?
Was she angry, running away from a man who never valued her to find a way to value herself?
The Bible is a surprisingly eloquent record of events, good and bad, in the lives of people who clearly struggled with many of the same issues we struggle with.
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In further study, Sheerah was Ephraim's granddaughter. She was Beriah's (the last son mentioned whose name meant "tragedy" ... who was born after his other two son's were killed) daughter. Her brother's were listed after she was mentioned and she had nine of them. Your copied passage above stops just before they are listed.
ReplyDeleteThe questions you mentioned above were not answered, but it is still a pleasure to learn about her and what she did. Yes, the Bible is a surprisingly eloquent record of events, good and bad.
Expect a GREAT day!