GESHEM gĕsh’ əm (גֶּ֨שֶׁמ׃֙; perhaps Heb. rains, bulk, substance; but prob. local dialectal Arab. name of unknown meaning; gäsmu’ in Neh 6:6 KJV; RSVmg.) One of Nehemiah’s opponents in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem (2:19; 6:1ff.). He was important enough to serve as witness to the Jews’ alleged treason (6:6). His title, “the Arab,” may identify him as the governor of Edom (IDB), but scholars have more generally identified him with a N Arabian king referred to as “Gashm, son of Shahr” in an inscr. from Dedan in Arabia and as “Gashm, king of Kedar” in an Aram. inscr. from Egypt. Probably, both Tobiah and Geshem had friendly contacts with the nomads and seminomads who were then infiltrating into Pal. from the S. Furthermore, N Arabian kings profited economically from the trade routes extending from Arabia through Pal. to the Mediterranean coast. A resurgent Jerusalem threatened both of these interests.

Bibliography A. T. Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire (1948), 295; K. A. Kitchen, “Geshem,” NBD (1962); M. Newman, “Geshem,” IDB (1962).