Hebrew word · H7894

שִׁישָׁא

shisha'

Shisha

A personal name found only here. The same person appears in the parallel lists as Seraiah (śĕrāyâ, 2 Sam 8:17), Sheva (šĕyāʾ/šĕwāʾ, 2 Sam 20:25) and Shavsha (šawšāʾ, 1 Chr 18:16).

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of United Monarchy, first mentioned at 2Sa.8.17;

father of: Elihoreph (H0456) and Ahijah (H0281); also called Shavsha at 1Ch.18.16; Sheva(Ketiv: Sheya) at 2Sa.20.25; Shisha at 1Ki.4.3;

Another name of se.ra.yah (שְׂרָיָהוּ "Seraiah" H8304G)

§ Shisha = "Jehovah contends"

1) father of Elihoreph and Ahiah, the royal secretaries in the reign of Solomon

1a) apparently the same as 'Shavsha' who held the same position under David

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 Kings 4:3

Range of meaning

A personal name found only here. The same person appears in the parallel lists as Seraiah (śĕrāyâ, 2 Sam 8:17), Sheva (šĕyāʾ/šĕwāʾ, 2 Sam 20:25) and Shavsha (šawšāʾ, 1 Chr 18:16).

Against the English

English versions simply transliterate the name ('Shisha', KJV 'Shisha'). Readers are not told that it looks foreign or that it varies across the four lists.

Used elsewhere in the period

Scholars from de Vaux (1939) to Mettinger (1971) proposed that the name comes from an Egyptian scribal title. The usual suggestion is sš šʿ.t, 'scribe of letters/documents'. Hebrew writers may have heard it as a name. Others think it is just an Egyptian or non-Israelite personal name, and 'Seraiah' in 2 Samuel looks like a scribe's attempt to turn it into a Hebrew name.

Similar words

Where it appears

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 4:3 שִׁישָׁ֖א Shisha

    Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;

    Here: The father. He was almost certainly David's scribe, who is named Seraiah, Sheva or Shavsha in the earlier lists. The name does not look Hebrew, and many scholars think it is Egyptian or comes from an Egyptian scribal title.

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