Shimrith is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Shimrith was the mother of Jehozabad, one of the two men who conspired against King Joash of Judah and assassinated him. She is identified in the text as “a Moabitess,” a detail the Chronicler records alongside the parallel note that the other conspirator, Zabad, was the son of “Shimeath an Ammonitess.” Both mothers are named, and both are identified by their foreign origin, which is significant in a book that traces the spiritual decline of Judah’s kings.
The setting of Shimrith’s appearance is the aftermath of Joash’s reign. Joash had begun well, repairing the temple, but after the death of the priest Jehoiada he turned aside, and when Zechariah the son of Jehoiada rebuked the people, Joash had him stoned in the temple court. The text of 2 Chronicles 24:26 simply lists the conspirators who put Joash to death: “Zabad the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.” Shimrith herself does nothing in the narrative; she is named only as the mother of a murderer. Scripture says nothing else of her—no words, no actions, no further mention.
What the text does say of her is her identity: a Moabitess, a woman of a nation that the law of Moses excluded from the assembly of the LORD to the tenth generation (Deuteronomy 23:3). Her son Jehozabad, along with Zabad, struck down the king. The Chronicler’s inclusion of these foreign mothers is not incidental; it underscores the compromised spiritual state of Judah at the end of Joash’s life, when the covenant people were led by a king who had forsaken the LORD, and the instruments of his judgment came through households tied to Moab and Ammon.
The Name
The name Shimrith (Hebrew *Shimrith*) is not clearly recoverable in meaning. It appears only here in the King James Bible, and there is no established, widely accepted definition for it. Some have suggested a connection to a root meaning “to guard” or “to keep,” but this is speculative and not firmly attested. It is best to say plainly that the meaning of this name is uncertain; Scripture does not interpret it, and we should not invent a meaning for the sake of having one.
A Closing Thought
Shimrith is one of those quiet figures who appears in a single verse, named only as the mother of a man who killed a king. She never speaks, never acts, and is never mentioned again. Yet her life reminds us that our influence reaches farther than we can see. She could not have known that her son’s name would be recorded in Scripture as a conspirator. This is a sobering and tender thought: the legacy we leave is often carried by those we raise. May we live faithfully, trusting God with the outcomes we cannot foresee.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- 2 Chronicles 24:26 — And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.