Seraiah

Bible

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:

1. The father of Joab (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.
2. The grandfather of Jehu (1 Chr. 4:35).
3. One of David's scribes or secretaries (2 Samuel 8:17).
4. Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth (Jer. 40:8), one of the officials who survived the defeat and exile of Judea, a Netophathite, and chief priest of the time of Zedekiah. He was later carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon, and there put to death (2 Kings 25:18, 23).
5. Ezra 2:2.
6. Father or ancestor of Ezra the scribe (Book of Ezra 7:1), understood by many as the same person as Seraiah (4)^[1]
7. A ruler of the temple (Nehemiah 11:11).
8. A priest of the days of Jehoiakim (Neh. 12:1, 12).
9. Seraiah ben Neriah. 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 Jer. 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. Jer. 51:59 is rendered in the Revised Version, "Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain," instead of "was a quiet prince," as in the Authorized Version.

Contemporary

• Serayah McNeill, American actress, singer

References

1. Souvay, Charles. "Esdras." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 23 Dec. 2009 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05535a.htm>.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "^{article name needed}". Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.