Nimshi


Nimshi is a character in the Hebrew Bible. He is mentioned in the Books of Kings and the Second Book of Chronicles as father, grandfather, or possibly a forebear of Jehu, the king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

History

Despite the biblical text literally describing Jehu as either the "son of Nimshi"; or as the "son of Jehoshaphat", himself the "son of Nimshi", this is usually regarded by scholars to mean that Nimshi was either the grandfather or the ancestor of Jehu, or even that Jehu belonged to a clan named Nimshi, and not that Jehu was the son of Nimshi. Another possibility is that "son of Jehoshaphat" was a later addition, in which case Nimshi would be the father of Jehu.
Baruchi-Unna suggests that Nimshi was a son of King Omri and a brother of King Ahab. Jehu's father, Jehoshaphat, would consequently be a first cousin to Ahab's children: Ahaziah of Israel, Jehoram of Israel, and Athaliah, Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Judah. Among the members of this extended House of Omri, the names Ahazia, Jehoram, Athaliah, and Jehoshaphat are all theophoric names. With "Yhw" as their tutelary deity. While Omri, Ahab, and Nimshi make no reference to Yhw. Probably reflecting different religious tendencies among the first and second generations of the royal family on one hand, and the Yhw-worshipping third generation on the other hand.