His descendants, the Shimronites, formed one of the families of Issachar.—Gen. 46:8; Num. 26:23, 24.

2. A town whose king joined the confederation of northern Canaanites that Joshua defeated at the waters of Merom. (Josh. 11:1, 5, 8; 12:20; see SHIMRON-MERON.) Shimron was included in the tribal allotment of Zebulun. (Josh. 19:10, 15) The most commonly suggested location of ancient Shimron is Tell Semuniya, a short distance W of Nazareth, a site, however, rejected by a few.

SHIMRONITES

(Shimʹron·ites).

Descendants of Issachar’s son Shimron. At the time of the second wilderness census the registered ones of this family, together with those of the three other families making up this tribe, numbered 64,300.—Num. 26:23-25.

SHIMRON-MERON

(Shimʹron-meʹron).

A town, the domain of a king defeated by Joshua. (Josh. 12:7, 8, 20) It is perhaps the full name of the town Shimron, or possibly a reference to the fact that the king of Shimron was one of those defeated at the waters of Merom. (Josh. 11:1, 5, 7, 8) Some manuscripts separate the names as being two towns, Shimron and Meron, but no place called Meron is elsewhere alluded to.—See SHIMRON No. 2.

SHIMSHAI

(Shimʹshai) [sun child].

A scribe in the administration of Rehum, the chief government official of the Persian province “beyond the River,” which included Jerusalem. Shimshai joined in writing a letter to the Persian ruler Artaxerxes in an effort to stop the Jews from their rebuilding work in Jerusalem. Artaxerxes put through an order to stop the work, which was resumed during the reign of his successor King Darius Hystaspis (Darius I of Persia).—Ezra 4:8-24.

SHINAB

(Shiʹnab).

The king of Admah, one of five monarchs in the southern Dead Sea area who rebelled in his thirteenth year of vassalship to Chedorlaomer. The rebellion, however, was unsuccessful.—Gen. 14:1-10.

SHINAR

(Shiʹnar).

The original name of the area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers later called Babylonia. It was there that Nimrod assumed kingship over Babel, Erech, Accad and Calneh, and where construction of the temple-tower of Babel was aborted. (Gen. 10:9, 10; 11:2-8) Later, the king of Shinar, Amraphel, was one of the confederates that took Abraham’s nephew Lot captive. (Gen. 14:1, 9, 12) This territory was still called by its original name in the days of Joshua. (Josh. 7:21) It is referred to by the prophets Isaiah, Daniel and Zechariah.—Isa. 11:11; Dan. 1:2; Zech. 5:11; see BABEL; BABYLONIA.

SHINING ONE

A descriptive designation applied to the “king of Babylon.” (Isa. 14:4, 12) The Hebrew expression thus translated (NW, Ro, Yg) comes from a root meaning “to shine.” The rendering “Lucifer” (AV, Da) is derived from the Latin Vulgate.

The “shining one” is represented as saying in his heart: “Above the stars of God I shall lift up my throne, and I shall sit down upon the mountain of meeting.” (Isa. 14:13) Biblical evidence points to Mount Zion as the “mountain of meeting.” (See MOUNTAIN OF MEETING.) Hence, since stars can refer to kings (Num. 24:17; Rev. 22:16), the “stars of God” must be the kings of the Davidic line who ruled from Mount Zion. The “king of Babylon” (or, the dynasty of Babylonian kings) indicated his ambition to lift up his throne “above the stars of God” by desiring to make the kings of the line of David mere vassals and then finally dethroning them. Like stars that shed light, the “king of Babylon” shone brightly in the ancient world and could be termed “shining one.”

SHION

(Shiʹon) [destruction, ruin].

A city of Issachar. (Josh. 19:17, 19) ʽAyun esh-Shaʽin, a few miles E of Nazareth, may preserve the name Shion and suggest its ancient situation.

SHIP

The Bible generally makes only incidental mention of ships, shipping and ship’s gear, but does afford some clues as to ships and boats of that time. Other description of ancient ships is derived from historical annals of various nations or in pictorial representations of merchant ships, marine battles, and so forth.

EGYPTIAN

Papyrus reeds, woven and lashed together, provided material for a wide variety of Egyptian boats, ranging from a small riverboat holding one or just a few hunters or fishermen and capable of being swiftly paddled along the Nile, to the large sailing vessel with upturned prow and the sturdiness to ply the open seas. The Ethiopians and the Babylonians likewise used reed vessels, Babylon also possessing a large fleet of galley ships.—See CANALS (Mesopotamia).

Egyptian annals speak of wooden ships more than 170 feet (52 meters) long. These may have been Phoenician trading vessels doing business with Egypt. However, the Egyptians are said to have later possessed naval dockyards where large vessels were built. A relief at Medinet Habu depicts a battle between Egyptian boats and certain ‘sea peoples,’ in which the Egyptian boats have a mast with a sail and a crow’s nest atop the mast. They are also powered by oars, with a large paddle at the stern for a rudder. The prow is fashioned in the figure of a lioness’ head having the body of an Asiatic person in its mouth. The ships of the ‘sea peoples’ are built similarly, but without oars, and having at both prow and stern a “duck head,” the bills of which would ram enemy ships.

Large ships with rectangular sails and more than twenty oars, probably having a center keel, made long journeys across the Mediterranean Sea. That ships already were plying the seas in the time of Moses is shown by Jehovah’s warning on the plains of Moab that, if disobedient, the Israelites would be brought “back to Egypt by ships,” there to be offered on the slave market.—Deut. 28:68.

PHOENICIAN

In picturing the city of Tyre as a pretty ship, the prophet Ezekiel (27:3-7) gave details that evidently provide a description of a Phoenician ship. It had planks of durable juniper, a single mast of cedar from Lebanon and oars of ‘massive trees’ from Bashan, probably oak. The prow, likely high and curved, was made of cypress wood inlaid with ivory. The sail was of colored Egyptian linen, and the deck covering (perhaps an awning above the deck to provide shade) was of dyed wool. The ship’s seams were calked. (Ezek. 27:27) The Phoenicians were skilled sailors, carrying on extensive trade in the Mediterranean area, even going as far as Tarshish (probably Spain). It is believed by some that in time the term “Tarshish ships” or “ships of Tarshish” came to signify the type of ship used by the Phoenicians in trading with that distant point, that is, a seaworthy vessel able to make a long voyage. (1 Ki. 22:48; Ps. 48:7; Isa. 2:16; Ezek. 27:25) Possibly Jonah fled on a ship of this type. It had a deck, allowing space in the hold for cargo and passengers.—Jonah 1:3, 5.

One of Sennacherib’s sculptures portrays a Phoenician ship with a superstructure deck, a double bank of oars, a sail, and a screen around the upper deck on which shields were hung. The prow of this fighting ship was long and pointed.

King David made an alliance with King Hiram of Tyre to supply wood for the temple to be built later by Solomon. To furnish the large cedar beams required, the Phoenicians brought cedar logs down from the Lebanon mountains (possibly by floating them down a river), then floating them in log rafts to Joppa.—1 Ki. 5:9.

HEBREW SHIPS

When settled in the Promised Land, Dan was spoken of as dwelling for a time in ships (Judg. 5:17), possibly referring to its assigned territory by the Philistine coast. (Josh. 19:40, 41, 46) The territory of Asher was along the seacoast, including the cities of Tyre and Sidon (though there is no evidence that these cities were ever taken by Asher). The tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim and Judah also had territory along the Mediterranean coast, so that they were quite familiar with ships. (Josh. 15:1, 4; 16:8; 17:7, 10) Manasseh, Issachar and Naphtali also held land on or near the Sea of Galilee.

While Israel had apparently used boats from early times, Solomon was evidently the first ruler in Israel to put emphasis on commercial shipping. With the help of Hiram he built a fleet of cargo ships that sailed from Ezion-geber to Ophir. (1 Ki. 9:26-28; 10:22; 2 Chron. 8:17, 18; 9:21) These vessels were jointly manned by Israelites and experienced seamen from Tyre. Every three years the ships would come in with cargoes of gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.—1 Ki. 9:27; 10:22.

King Jehoshaphat of Judah later entered into partnership with wicked King Ahaziah of Israel in building ships at Ezion-geber to send to Ophir for gold; but Jehovah warned him of His disapproval of the alliance. Accordingly, the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber, and Jehoshaphat apparently rejected a request by Ahaziah to give the project a second try. –1 Ki. 22:48, 49; 2 Chron. 20:36, 37.

DURING THE FIRST CENTURY C.E.

Numerous merchant ships of various types plied the waters of the Mediterranean in the first century C.E. Some of them were coastal vessels, such as the boat from Adramyttium that Paul, as a prisoner, sailed in from Caesarea to Myra. (Acts 21:1-6; 27:2-5) However, the merchant ship that Paul boarded at Myra was a large ship carrying a cargo of wheat and a crew and passengers totaling about 276 persons. (Acts 27:37, 38) Josephus reports that he once sailed on a ship carrying 600. (The Life of Flavius Josephus, par. 3) According to The New Bible Dictionary, by J. D. Douglas (p. 1180): “A ship of 10,000 talents (about 250 tons [227 metric tons]) was considered large, although Pliny mentions one of apparently 1,300 tons [1,179 metric tons].”

Paul had done much traveling on ships; he had experienced three shipwrecks prior to this journey. (2 Cor. 11:25) The one he was on this time was a sailing ship, having a mainsail and foresail, and steered by two large oars located in the stern. Such boats often had a figurehead representing certain gods or goddesses (as the boat that Paul boarded afterward, having the figurehead “Sons of Zeus”). (Acts 28:11) A small boat or skiff, used to get to shore when anchoring near a coast, was pulled behind the ship. To prevent its being swamped or crushed, the skiff was hauled up during storms. In this voyage of Paul’s the violence of the storm that arose caused the sailors to undergird the ship (this was apparently the passing of ropes or chains under the hull from one side to the other to hold the ship together), lower the gear (evidently the sails), dump the cargo of wheat overboard, throw away the tackling and lash up the rudder oars (to prevent their being damaged).—Acts 27:6-19, 40.

THE SEA OF GALILEE

The Gospels frequently mention the presence of boats on the Sea of Galilee. Evidently these were mainly used for fishing with nets (Matt. 4:18-22; Luke 5:2; John 21:2-6), though fishing with hooks was also done. (Matt. 17:27) Jesus sometimes used a boat as a convenient spot from which to preach to crowds on the nearby shore (Matt. 13:2; Luke 5:3) and he and his apostles used them often for transportation. (Matt. 9:1; 15:39; Mark 5:21) Such a boat was powered by oars or a small sail. (Mark 6:48; Luke 8:22) Though the Bible does not describe these fishing boats, some of them were large enough to accommodate seven to thirteen persons or more.—Mark 8:10; John 21:2, 3; see GALLEY; MARINER.

ANCHORS

The first anchors, as far as is known, were of stone, and were let down from the bow of the ship. Later wooden anchors of hook form, weighted with stone or metal, were used in the Mediterranean. Some had lead arms. A specimen discovered near Cyrene weighs about 1,200 pounds (c. 545 kilograms). Eventually, anchors made entirely of metal, having the familiar form, and also double-fluked anchors were used. The sailors of the ship in which Paul was sailing cast out four anchors from the boat’s stern (the practice sometimes followed when riding out a gale). (Acts 27:29, 30, 40) A sounding lead was used to determine the depth of the water.—Acts 27:28.

The apostle Paul uses the term figuratively when he speaks to his spiritual brothers in Christ, calling the hope set before them “an anchor for the soul.”—Heb. 6:19; compare Ephesians 4:13, 14; James 1:6-8.

SHIPHI

(Shiʹphi) [abundant, from a root meaning to abound].

A Simeonite whose son was one of the tribal chieftains that extended their pasture grounds during Hezekiah’s reign.—1 Chron. 4:24, 37-41.

SHIPHMITE

(Shiphʹmite).

The designation for Zabdi, David’s manager of the wine supply. (1 Chron. 27:27) It could indicate that Zabdi came from either Siphmoth (1 Sam. 30:28) or Shepham.—Num. 34:10, 11.

SHIPHRAH

(Shiphʹrah) [beauty].

The Septuagint reads Sepphora in both Exodus 1:15 and 2:21; the Masoretic text, however, reads Shiphrah and Zipporah respectively. The Aramaic form of the name is Sapphira.

Shiphrah was one of the Hebrew midwives who, together with Puah, was commanded by Pharaoh to kill all the Hebrew male babies immediately at birth. Being a God-fearing woman, however, and having respect for the divine sanctity placed on human life (Gen. 9:6), she preserved the boy babies alive and was blessed by Jehovah with a family of her own.—Ex. 1:15-21; see MIDWIFE.

SHIPHTAN

(Shiphʹtan) [judgment].

Father of Kemuel, the chieftain representing Ephraim when the Promised Land was divided among the tribes of Israel.—Num. 34:17, 18, 24.

SHISHA

(Shiʹsha).

Father of Solomon’s secretaries Elihoreph and Ahijah.—1 Ki. 4:3; see SERAIAH No. 2.

SHISHAK

(Shiʹshak).

An Egyptian king, known as Sheshonk (I) from Egyptian records. Shishak, regarded as the founder of the “Libyan dynasty,” is generally credited with a rule of about twenty-one years. His son Osorkon (I) succeeded him to the throne.

When Jeroboam fled to Egypt to escape the wrath of King Solomon, Shishak ruled there. (1 Ki. 11:40) Some years later, in the fifth year of Solomon’s successor Rehoboam (993/992 B.C.E.), Shishak invaded Judah with a mighty force of chariots and horsemen. He captured fortified cities in Judah and then came to Jerusalem. But Jehovah did not allow him to bring Jerusalem to ruin, for Rehoboam and the princes of Judah humbled themselves upon receiving a message from the prophet Shemaiah. Shishak, however, did strip the city of its treasures.—2 Chron. 12:1-12.

There is archaeological evidence concerning Shishak’s invading the Palestinian area. A fragment of a