Hebrew word · H4918

מְשֻׁלָּם

meshulam

Meshullam

A personal name. It is a passive form of the root sh-l-m (to be whole or complete; to repay, restore; to be at peace), roughly 'repaid', 'restored', or perhaps 'one given in replacement'. Some suggest 'one in covenant / at peace (with God)'.

Appears 25 times in 25 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Neh.3.4;

son of: Berechiah (H1296K)

§ Meshullam = "friend"

1) grandfather of Shaphan, the scribe

2) son of Zerubbabel

3) a Benjamite of the sons of Elpaal

4) a Benjamite, father of Sallu

5) a Benjamite who lived at Jerusalem after the captivity

6) a Benjamite

6a) perhaps the same as 3 or 4

7) a Gadite in the reign of king Jotham of Judah

8) son of Berechiah who assisted in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem

9) son of Besodeiah who assisted Jehoiada the son of Paseah in restoring the old gate of Jerusalem

10) a chief of the people who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah

11) father of Hilkiah and high priest probably in the reign of king Amon of Judah

11a) perhaps the same as 'Shallum'

12) a priest, son of Meshillemith or Meshillemoth, son of Immer, and ancestor of Maasiai or Amashai

13) a priest or family of priests who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah

14) a priest, head of the family of Ginnethon and representative of the house of Ezra in the days of Joiakim, the son of Jeshua

15) a priest, one of the princes of Judah at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem

16) a Kohathite or family of Kohathite Levites in the reign of Josiah

17) a Levite, one of the heads sent to Iddo to gather the Levites to join the caravan about to return to Jerusalem; a chief man who assisted Ezra in abolishing the marriages which some of the people had made with foreign wives

18) ancestor of a family of porters or Levites in days of Nehemiah

19) a descendant of Bani who had a foreign wife and put her away

20) one of the men who stood at the left hand of Ezra when he read the law to the people

20a) maybe the same as 17

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Chronicles 9:7

Range of meaning

A personal name. It is a passive form of the root sh-l-m (to be whole or complete; to repay, restore; to be at peace), roughly 'repaid', 'restored', or perhaps 'one given in replacement'. Some suggest 'one in covenant / at peace (with God)'.

Against the English

Transliterated in all versions. The meaning of the name is lost on English readers, but this is normal for names and not a drift.

Used elsewhere in the period

Extremely common in the Persian period (Ezra 8:16; 10:15, 29; Nehemiah 3:4, 6; 10:7; 11:7; 12:13, 16, 25, 33). It also appears in Hebrew and Aramaic inscriptions and seals of the era.

From the study of Nehemiah 12:13

Range of meaning

A passive form of the verb root š-l-m, "to be complete, make good, repay." It means "one who is made whole, repaid, requited." Some scholars link it to "one in a covenant of peace," though the passive "repaid, replaced" sense is the usual explanation.

Against the English

English just transliterates the name. Nothing is mistranslated, but the meaning of the name disappears.

Used elsewhere in the period

Meshullam is one of the most common names in Ezra–Nehemiah: at least half a dozen different men carry it (e.g. Ezra 8:16; 10:15; Neh 3:4, 6; 10:7, 20; 11:7; 12:16, 25, 33). The name also turns up among the Jews of Elephantine in Egypt in the 5th century BC. The onomastic scholar J. J. Stamm classed it among "replacement names," given to a child seen as compensation for a lost sibling.

Similar words

Where it appears

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 22:3 מְשֻׁלָּם֙ Meshullam

    Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the scribe, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the house of the LORD, saying,

1 Chronicles · 7

  1. 1 Chronicles 3:19 מְשֻׁלָּ֣ם Meshullam

    The sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel and Shimei. The children of Zerubbabel: Meshullam and Hananiah, their sister Shelomith,

  2. 1 Chronicles 5:13 וּמְשֻׁלָּ֡ם and Meshullam

    Their kinsmen by families were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber—seven in all.

  3. 1 Chronicles 8:17 וּמְשֻׁלָּ֖ם and Meshullam

    Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber,

  4. 1 Chronicles 9:7 מְשֻׁלָּ֔ם Meshullam

    From the Benjamites: Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah;

    Here: Sallu's father. The name is built on the root sh-l-m ('whole, repaid, at peace') and roughly means 'one who is restored / repaid'. It was very common after the exile: more than twenty men in the Bible bear it, and another Benjamite Meshullam appears in the very next verse.

  5. 1 Chronicles 9:8 וּמְשֻׁלָּם֙ and Meshullam

    Ibneiah son of Jeroham; Elah son of Uzzi, the son of Michri; Meshullam son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah;

  6. 1 Chronicles 9:11 מְשֻׁלָּ֣ם Meshullam

    Azariah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the chief official of God’s temple;

    Here: From the root *sh-l-m* ('to be whole, to repay'), perhaps 'repaid' or 'made whole', possibly a child given in place of one lost. In the parallel priestly list of 1 Chronicles 6:12-13 (Hebrew 5:38-39) the same man appears as Shallum, a variant of the same name.

  7. 1 Chronicles 9:12 מְשֻׁלָּ֥ם Meshullam

    Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah; Maasai son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 34:12 וּמְשֻׁלָּ֛ם and Meshullam

    And the men did the work faithfully. The Levites overseeing them were Jahath and Obadiah, descendants of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, descendants of Kohath. Other Levites, all skilled with musical instruments,

Ezra · 3

  1. Ezra 8:16 וְלִמְשֻׁלָּ֖ם and for Meshullam

    Then I summoned the leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, as well as the teachers Joiarib and Elnathan.

  2. Ezra 10:15 וּמְשֻׁלָּ֛ם and Meshullam

    (Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite, opposed this plan.)

  3. Ezra 10:29 מְשֻׁלָּ֤ם Meshullam

    From the descendants of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth.

Nehemiah · 13

  1. Nehemiah 3:4 מְשֻׁלָּ֥ם Meshullam

    Next to them, Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, made repairs. Next to him, Meshullam son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs; and next to him, Zadok son of Baana made repairs as well.

  2. Nehemiah 3:6 וּמְשֻׁלָּ֖ם and Meshullam

    The Jeshanah Gate was repaired by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah. They laid its beams and installed its doors, bolts, and bars.

  3. Nehemiah 3:30 מְשֻׁלָּם֙ Meshullam

    Next to him, Hananiah son of Shelemiah, as well as Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. Next to them, Meshullam son of Berechiah made repairs opposite his own quarters.

  4. Nehemiah 6:18 מְשֻׁלָּ֖ם Meshullam

    For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, since he was a son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.

  5. Nehemiah 8:4 מְשֻׁלָּֽם׃ פ Meshullam

    Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for this occasion. At his right side stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, and at his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

  6. Nehemiah 10:7 מְשֻׁלָּ֥ם Meshullam

    Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,

  7. Nehemiah 10:20 מְשֻׁלָּ֖ם Meshullam

    Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,

  8. Nehemiah 11:7 מְשֻׁלָּ֡ם Meshullam

    From the descendants of Benjamin: Sallu son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah;

  9. Nehemiah 11:11 מְשֻׁלָּ֣ם Meshullam

    Seraiah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the chief official of the house of God;

  10. Nehemiah 12:13 מְשֻׁלָּ֔ם Meshullam

    of Ezra, Meshullam; of Amariah, Jehohanan;

    Here: The man who headed the Ezra family in the days of the high priest Joiakim. The name comes from the root š-l-m ("whole, repaid, at peace") and probably means something like "made whole" or "repaid," perhaps a name for a child given in place of one who died.

  11. Nehemiah 12:16 מְשֻׁלָּֽם׃ Meshullam

    of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam;

  12. Nehemiah 12:25 מְשֻׁלָּ֖ם Meshullam

    Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the gates.

  13. Nehemiah 12:33 וּמְשֻׁלָּֽם׃ and Meshullam

    along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam,

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.