The name Jerahmeel (Hebrew יְרַחְמְאֵל, Yəraḥməʾēl; Greek ιραμεηλ) appears several times in the Tanakh. It means "He will obtain mercy of God", "God pities", "May God have compassion", "May God pity", or "Moon from God".

Bearers of the name

There are probably three distinct persons of that name in the Tanakh. In order of their lifetimes they are:

The Jerahmeelites

The Jerahmeelites were a people, presumably descended from Jerahmeel number 1 above, living in the Negev, who David, while in service with the Philistines, claimed to have attacked, but with whom he was really on friendly terms. Cheyne developed a theory that made the Jerahmeelites into a significant part of the history of Israel, but most subsequent scholars have dismissed his ideas as fanciful.

An archangel

In some deuterocanonical and apocryphal writings, there are references to an archangel variously called Jeremiel, Eremiel, Remiel, etc. See the article Jerahmeel (archangel).

Chronicles of Jerahmeel

The Chronicles of Jerahmeel is a medieval document ascribed to the 12th century Jewish historian Jerahmeel ben Solomon, and is unrelated to any of the above.