Shim'sha-i, or Shimsha'i
(sunny), the scribe or secretary of Kehum, who was a kind of satrap of the conquered province of Judea and of the colony of Samaria, supported by the Persian court.
He was apparently an Aramaean, for the letter which he wrote to Artaxerxes was in Syriac.
(B.C. 529.)
And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his colleagues wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the text of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated from Aramaic. Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes, as follows--
"Now let it be known to the king, that if that city is rebuilt and the walls are finished, they will not pay tribute, custom or toll, and it will damage the revenue of the kings.
Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the commander, to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their colleagues who live in Samaria and in the rest of the provinces beyond the River: "Peace. And now