Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 37:2 (Spring 2023)
Article: Sheerah, The Unknown City-Building Woman Of 1 Chronicles 7:24
Author: Eric E. Richter

PP 37:2 (Spring 2023) p. 28

Sheerah, The Unknown City-Building Woman Of 1 Chronicles 7:24

Eric E. Richter

Eric E. Richter holds a bachelor’s degree in theology from Universidad Adventista del Plata (River Plate Adventist University) in Libertador San Martín, Entre Ríos, Argentina, and is currently pursuing a graduate degree in history. He serves as editor for Asociación Casa Editora Sudamericana (South American Publishing House) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He specializes in Adventist history and New Testament studies. Eric has written more than a dozen academic articles.

The genealogies that make up the early chapters of the book of 1 Chronicles have generated curiosity and intrigue among Old Testament researchers due to the details, and sometimes the oddities, they contain. In them can be found not only a thorough description of family lines but also military censuses, geographical details, family anecdotes, and even a well-known prayer (1 Chr 4:9–10).1

This article’s objective is to study an obscure reference to a woman who is described as a builder of cities. Chapter 7 of the book of Chronicles contains, among other things, a list of Ephraim’s descendants, where his granddaughter Sheerah is mentioned (v. 24). The description of this woman is striking. Scripture credits her with having “built both Lower and Upper Beth-horon, and Uzzen-sheerah.” Ralph Klein correctly points out that “this is the only place in the Old Testament where a woman is named as the founder of a city.”2

Who was this pioneering woman that, in the midst of an ancient patriarchal culture, managed to build and rule three cities? Why does the book of Chronicles include a description of her when so many names in the genealogies are mentioned with no description at all? In this article, we will summarize what is possible to know about Sheerah and her architectural achievements. In addition, we will attempt to decipher the significance of her mention in the book of Chronicles.

In our first step we will see how her story is strategically placed among the genealogies of 1 Chronicles 7 to highlight her outstanding achievements as a builder of cities.

The Genealogies Of 1 Chronicles 7

The first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles consist of a series of genealogies beginning with Adam and continuing through Jacob. In ch. 2, the description of the descendants of Jud...