Hebrew word · H8348

שֵׁשָׁן

sheshan

Sheshan

A personal name of uncertain meaning. Some link it to shushan/shoshan, "lily". Others suggest a foreign origin. No derivation is secure.

Appears 5 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 21, 2026

What it means

A man of the tribe of Judah living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Ch.2.31;

son of: Ishi (H3469);

father of: Ahlai (H0304)

§ Sheshan = "noble"

a Judaite of the families of Hezron and Jerahmeel, son of Ishi and father of Ahlai

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

Range of meaning: A personal name of uncertain meaning. Some link it to shushan/shoshan, "lily". Others suggest a foreign origin. No derivation is secure.
Against the English: All versions write "Sheshan".
Used elsewhere in the period: Appears only in 1 Chr 2:31, 34–35. In vv. 34–35 he marries his daughter to his Egyptian slave Jarha, and a 13-generation line follows (vv. 36–41).

1 Chronicles · 5

1 Chronicles 2:31 שֵׁשָׁ֔ן שֵׁשָׁ֖ן Sheshan

The son of Appaim: Ishi. The son of Ishi: Sheshan. The son of Sheshan: Ahlai.

Here: Ishi's son. He matters most in this short chain, because verses 34–35 tell how he had no sons and married his daughter to his Egyptian servant Jarha.
1 Chronicles 2:34 לְשֵׁשָׁ֛ן וּלְשֵׁשָׁ֛ן to Sheshan, and [belonged] to Sheshan

Sheshan had no sons, but only daughters. He also had an Egyptian servant named Jarha.
1 Chronicles 2:35 שֵׁשָׁ֧ן Sheshan

Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to his servant Jarha, and she bore to him Attai.

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