Sandy’s Devotional:
The sons of Ephraim were Shuthelah, Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eladah his son, Tahath his son, Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead. The men of Gath who were born in that land killed them because they came down to take away their cattle. Then Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him. And when he went in to his wife, she conceived and bore a son; and he called his name Beriah, because tragedy had come upon his house. Now his daughter was Sheerah, who built Lower and Upper Beth Horon and Uzzen Sheerah; and Rephah was his son, as well as Resheph, and Telah his son, Tahan his son, Laadan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son, Nun his son, and Joshua his son. 1 Chronicles 7:20–27
Sheerah is the only woman mentioned in the Bible as a builder of cities. Her story emerges from the ashes of a broken, grieving family. After her father, Ephraim, lost his sons to a brutal murder by the men of Gath, a new son was born named Beriah—meaning ‘in tragedy.” Yet from this legacy of profound grief came Sheerah, (her name means Remnant) a woman who shattered the social barriers of her time to do the extraordinary.
Sheerah didn’t just build; she engineered with brilliant foresight. She founded Lower and Upper Beth-horon, strategically placing them on high ground to spot approaching enemies, yet near a bustling thoroughfare to secure vital trade and resources for her community. Her architectural legacy was so profound that these cities later became a Levite inheritance and the backdrop for one of Israel’s most miraculous military victories, where God rained down hailstones and made the sun stand still for Joshua’s army (Joshua 10:10-13).
Her achievements were so remarkable that a third city, Uzzen-Sheerah, was named entirely in her honor. Ultimately, Sheerah proved that a devastating beginning does not dictate your destiny—a spirit of resilience that ran deep in her lineage, which later produced Joshua, the very leader who guided Israel into the Promised Land.
