Shealtiel
SHEALTIEL
SHEALTIEL (Heb. שְׁאַלְתִּיאֵל (Haggai 1:1); abridged שַׁלְתִּיאֵל (Haggai 1:12, 14; 2:2)), biblical name meaning "I asked of God," referring either to the request for a son (cf. i Sam. 1:17, 20, 27) or some other personal benefit (cf. Ps. 27:4 – request to reside permanently in the Temple). The name is unique and its bearer was either the first or the second son of King Jehoiachin (i Chron. 3:17), who was exiled from Judah at the age of 18 in 597 b.c.e. (ii Kings 24:8). A Babylonian ration tablet of 592 b.c.e. lists Jehoiachin and five sons, so that Shealtiel may have been born prior to his father's exile. His son (nephew according to i Chron. 3:17ff.), given the Babylonian name *Zerubbabel, served as governor of Judah under Darius (Haggai 1:1; cf. Ezra 3:2; Neh. 12:1).
bibliography:
W.F. Albright, in: ba, 5 (1942), 49ff.
[Bezalel Porten]