יִשְׁמְרַי

# Ishmerai: A Hapax Legomenon in Biblical Hebrew Ishmerai appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, making it a hapax legomenon—a word attested in a single location with no parallel occurrences to clarify its meaning through contextual comparison. The form יִשְׁמְרַי (yish.me.ray) is a proper noun, specifically a personal name rather than a common word with semantic range or usage patterns. This single-occurrence status severely limits what can be determined about its linguistic significance or theological importance. Without additional contextual data or related forms provided in the lexicon entry, the meaning and historical significance of Ishmerai cannot be reliably established through Hebrew linguistic analysis alone. The name appears to contain elements common to Hebrew naming conventions, but a single biblical reference offers insufficient evidence to explain why this individual was mentioned, what role they played, or how significant they were to the biblical narrative. The minimal data available—one occurrence of a proper noun—means that this entry primarily serves catalogical rather than interpretive purposes for biblical lexicography.