MESHULLAM mĭ shŏŏl’ əm (מְשֻׁלָּמ׃֙, LXX Μεσολλαμ, Μεσουλαμ, meaning: uncertain; reconciliation, friendship have been suggested). The name of some twenty men in the OT. 1. Grand-father of Shaphan, the secretary to king Josiah (2 Kings 22:3).

2. A son of Zerubbabel, and scion of the house of David (1 Chron 3:19).

3. A leader among the Gadites who lived in Bashan (5:13).

4. A son of Elpaal, a Benjamite (8:17).

5. Father of Sallu of the tribe of Benjamin (1 Chron 9:7; Neh 11:7).

6. A son of Shephatiah also of the tribe of Benjamin (1 Chron 9:8).

7. A priest of the famous family of Zadok, and the father of Hilkiah the high priest who in the reign of Josiah (2 Kings 22:8f.) found the Book of the Law in the Temple (1 Chron 9:11; Neh 11:11); (see Zadok).

8. A son of Meshillemith also of the Zadokite family of priests (1 Chron 9:12).

9. A Kohathite who served as an overseer in repairing the house of the Lord during the reign of Josiah (2 Chron 34:12).

10. One of the leading men who returned from exile with Ezra. He assisted Ezra in recruiting Levites for the return (Ezra 8:16).

11. A man who opposed Ezra in the matter of foreign wives (10:15).

12. A son of Bani who had married a foreign wife (10:29).

13. A son of Berechiah and one of those who helped repair the wall (perhaps two sections) of Jerusalem (Neh 3:4, 30). His daughter is given in marriage to Jehohanan (6:18).

14. A son of Besodiah who helped repair the Old Gate, one of the many gates in the wall of Jerusalem (3:6).

15. A leader among the people who was given the honor of standing at the left hand of Ezra as he read the law to the people (8:4).

16. A priest who signed the covenant with Nehemiah (10:7).

17. A leader among the people who also signed the covenant with Nehemiah (10:20).

18. A priest of the family of Ezra in the time of the high priest Joiakim (12:13).

19. The head of the priestly family of Ginnethon in the days of Joiakim (12:16).

20. A gatekeeper who stood guard at the storehouses of the gates during the governorship of Nehemiah (12:25).

21. A prince of the people who assisted in the dedication of the wall (12:33).

Meshullam seems to have been an esp. popular name among the Jews during the exilic and postexilic periods. Perhaps it was because the idea of reconciliation and renewed friendship with God was strong in the minds of the people.

Bibliography Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon (reprint 1955), 1024; M. F. Unger, Bible Dictionary (1961), 716.