ŠĒMŌNEH 'EŠRĒH («Eighteen», understood bērākhōth «blessings»). — The principal official prayer of Judaism, called tēphilāh («prayer») par excellence, or (especially among the Sephardim) āmīdhāh («standing»), because it must be recited standing upright, with the feet together and the face turned eastward; together with the šēma' (v.), it is the oldest profession of faith in the liturgy of Israel. Rabbān Gamaliele II (late 1st century) had it given its definitive form by Simone il Cotoniere and had the «blessing» against the mīnīm formulated by Samuele il Piccolo (Bērākhōth, 28b) on the occasion of the Synod of Jabneh, ca. A.D. 90 (Jer. Bērākhōth, 5a and 5a).
A public and private prayer, it is found in all liturgical and devotional books. The cantor (bāzān), or someone invited for this purpose, goes before the open area of the Tōrāh and recites the prayer aloud, while the community responds «Amen» (Bērākhōth, V, 4; Ta'onith, II, 5). In private, every Israelite must say it three times a day (Bērākhōth, III, 3; IV, 1), morning, afternoon, and evening; the practice of praying three times a day was ancient (Dan. 6, 11, 14; 9, 21; Esd. 9, 5; Indt. 9, 1), but in the Miṣnāh the obligation is still limited to the twice-daily šēma' (Bērākhōth, II-III).
The oldest text is that of the Palestinian recension, discovered in the gēntzāh of Cairo (1896) and published by S. Schechter (1898) and G. Dalman (1898). The 18 strophes glorify (1-3), implore (4-16 and 18), and give thanks (17) to God; each closes with the «blessing» (bērākhāh), proclaiming a divine attribute that summarizes the theme of the preceding sentence: a varied refrain called ḥathīmāh («seal» or «conclusion»). Its rhythm is noteworthy, reinforced by rhyme, which according to K. G. Kuhn was later imitated in the Pater. The form now in use (the Babylonian recension) comprises 19 blessings, because the 14th (messianic) was later divided into two, separating Zion and David. In the sidār («order», private prayer book), the 19 «blessings» or strophes are today usually given a name expressing their subject: 1st ābhōth «fathers» (conclusion: «Shield of Abraham»); 2nd gēbhūrōth «strength» (concl.: «Vivifier of the dead»); 3rd gēbhūtōth «sanctification» (concl.: «Holy God»); 4th bīnāh «knowledge» of the Law (concl.: «Who bestows the grace of knowledge»); 5th tēlūbhāh «conversion»; 6th tēlūbhāh «forgiveness»; 7th gēlūbhāh «redemption»; 8th tēphūāh «healing»; 9th bīrkath haš-lānīm «prayer for the (good) years»; 10th gēbūy gēlūyōth «gathering of the dispersed» at the sound of the «great trumpet» around the «standard»; 11th bīrkath mīšpāy «blessing, prayer for judgment (right governance)»; 12th b. ḥammīnīm «pr. against heretics» or apostates; 13th b. sadāqīm «pr. for the righteous» (proselytes); 14th b. Jērūsāqīm «pr. for Jerusalem»; 15th b. Dāwīdh «pr. for (the kingdom of the house of) David»; 16th tēphilāh «prayer» (of petition); 17th ābhōdhāh «service» (of God); 18th hōdhāh «thanksgiving»; 19th b. hōhānīm «pr. of the priests» (echoing the end of the priestly blessing [Num. 6, 26 ff.]). The first 3 and the last 3, with the addition of the gēdhūtāth haj-jōm («sanctification of the day»), form the tēphilāth tēbha' («seven prayers») of the Sabbath and festivals, in which the 13 middle strophes, which are petitions «for man's needs», are omitted. The first 3 and the last 3, which constitute the permanent framework of the tēphilāh, are the oldest and must already have been in use before the Christian era (but the Talmudists wrongly attribute the Š. 'e. to Ezra's «Great Synagogue»); the 6th and 7th (initially reserved for fast days) and the 11th also appear to predate 70; the 17th seems to presuppose that worship has been interrupted, following the destruction of the Temple in 70. The tone is collective and national, unlike that of the Pater (often compared with the Š. 'e.), which is at once universal and personal.
In the Palestinian recension the 12th «blessing» curses («uproot... may they perish») the mīnīm («apostates»; from the second half of the 1st century, Jewish Christians) and the nōšērīm (Christians), as s. Justin (C. Tryph., 16, 47, 93, 96, 108, 133), s. Epiphanius (Haer. 29, 9), and s. Jerome (In It., 52, 5 [PL. 24, 498]: «ter in die in Christianos congerunt maledicta») knew well; this hatred confirms the Pharisaic origin of the prayer. From the present text the mention of the «Nazarenes» and «apostates» has disappeared, replaced by «the slanderers» and «the enemies».