SHAVSHA occurs in the list of Davids officers in 1Ch_18:15 as scribe (RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] secretary), an office made necessary by the growth of the court and relations with other states. His name, and the fact of his fathers not being mentioned, make it probable that he was a foreigner chosen to deal with foreign correspondence. His name was evidently unfamiliar; in the list of 2Sa_20:25 it appears as Sheva; in that of 2Sa_8:15-18 (otherwise identical with Ch.) Seraiah has been substituted; LXX [Note: Septuagint.] varies greatly in all passages. It is generally held that Shavsha is correct. Apparently in Solomons time he was succeeded by his sons (1Ki_4:3 Shisha being probably only another variation of the name).
C. W. Emmet.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
David's scribe or secretary of state (1Ch_18:16). SERAIAH in 2Sa_8:17. SHISHA in 1Ki_4:3. SHEVA in 2Sa_20:25.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Shav'sha. (nobility). The royal secretary, in the reign of David, 1Ch_18:16 called also Seraiah in 2Sa_8:17, and Sheva in 2Sa_20:25, and, in 1Ki_4:3, as Shisha. See Seraiah; Sheva; Shisha.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
shav?sha (שׁושׁא, shawshā'; in 2Sa_20:25, Kethı̄bh, שׁיא, sheyā', Kerē, שׁוא, shewā', English Versions of the Bible ?Sheva,? are refuted by the Septuagint; in 2Sa_8:15-18, in other respects identical with Chronicles, ?Seraiah? is found; the Septuagint varies greatly in all passages; it is the general consensus that Shavsha is correct): State secretary or scribe during the reign of David (1Ch_18:16; 2Sa_20:25). He was the first occupant of this office, which was created by David. It is significant that his father's name is omitted in the very exact list of David's officers of state (1Ch_18:14-17 parallel 2Sa_8:15-18); this fact, coupled with the foreign sound of his name, points to his being an ?alien?; the assumption that the state secretary handled correspondence with other countries may explain David's choice of a foreigner for this post. Shavsha's two sons, Elihoreph and Ahijah, were secretaries of state under Solomon; they are called ?sons of Shisha? (1Ki_4:3), ?Shisha? probably being a variant of ?Shavsha.?
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
(Heb. Shavsha', שִׁוְשָׁא, nobility [Furst]; Sept. Σουσά v.r. Σούς, and even Ι᾿ησοῦς), the royal secretary in the reign of David (1Ch_18:16). He is apparently the same with SERAIAH (2Sa_8:17), who is called Σεισά by Josephus (Ant. 7, 5, 4), w and Σασά in the Vat. MS. of the Sept. Shisha is the reading of two MSS. and of the Targum in 1Ch_18:16. In 2Sa_20:25 he is called SHEVA, and in 1Ki_4:3 SHISHA.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.