SEMEI (Hebr. Šim't “[the Lord] has heard me”). — Name of many persons in the Bible. The best known is the Benjaminite who, on the Mount of Olives, David (v.), as he was leaving Jerusalem to escape Absalom (II Sam. 16:5-8). Forgiven at that moment by David despite Abisai’s (v.) demands for vengeance, and also upon his return (ibid. 16:9-14; 19:16-23), he was put to death years later by Solomon, whose orders he had disobeyed (I Reg. 2:8 ff., 36-46).
Among the other S., some belong to the time of David: one of his brothers (II Sam. 21:21), elsewhere called Shammah (I Sam. 16:9; 17:13); a partisan of Solomon during Adonijah’s attempt (I Reg. 1:8); a Levite among David’s singers (I Par. 25:3). The following should also be mentioned: a grandson of Levi (Ex. 6:17, etc.); a Simeonite famous for his numerous offspring (I Par. 4:26 ff.); an ancestor of Jesus Christ (Lc. 2:26, Gr. ŻĘṭ).