SEMEIA (SEMEIAAS). — Name (Heb. Šēma'jāh = “Jahweh has heard”) of various personages in the Old Testament.
1. A Levite in the time of David (1 Chron. 15:8, 11).
2. Son of Obed-edom of the family of Korah (ibid. 26:4).
3. Prophet in the time of Rehoboam, who intercedes with the king in God’s name against the rebellious tribes of the north (1 Kings 12:22–24). The same foretells the victory of Pharaoh Shishak (2 Chron. 12:5 ff.).
4. False prophet contemporary with Jeremiah, who fosters false hope both in Babylon and in Jerusalem. Jeremiah foretells his lack of descendants as divine punishment (Jer. 29:31 ff.).
5. Levite who settled in Jerusalem after the return from exile (Neh. 11:15; 1 Chron. 9:14).
6. Levite descended from Jeduthun (2 Chron. 29:14). A priest who returned from exile with Zerubbabel (Neh. 12:6, 18).
8. Levite contemporary with Ezra (Ezra 8:13, 16). A priest who had married a foreign wife (ibid. 10:21).
Other persons of the same name are merely mentioned in 1 Chron. 3:22; 9:16; Ezra 10:31; Neh. 12:34–36. Elsewhere (1 Chron. 4:37; Neh. 3:29; 6:10) the Vulgate prefers the form Samai (q.v.) or Semai.