Seraiah

The name Seraiah belongs to at least three men in these verses, and they are easy to mix up. One is David’s scribe (2 Samuel 8:17). Another is the chief priest whom Babylon’s captain takes when Jerusalem falls and who is put to death at Riblah (2 Kings 25:18-21). A third is given a task by Jeremiah: to carry a written word about Babylon into that city and read it aloud there (Jeremiah 51:59-61). The text does not say whether these men were related, so each is best read in his own place and time.

11 verses

2 Samuel

2 Samuel 8:17

And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the scribe;

2 Samuel 20:25

And Sheva was scribe: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests:

1 Kings

1 Kings 4:3

Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder.

2 Kings

2 Kings 25:18

And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:

2 Kings 25:19

And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land that were found in the city:

2 Kings 25:20

And Nebuzaradan captain of the guard took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah:

2 Kings 25:21

And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land.

2 Kings 25:23

And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.

Ezra

Ezra 2:2

Which came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 51:59

The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.

Jeremiah 51:61

And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

Soldier of Jehovah. (1.) The father of Joab (1 Chr. 4:13, 14).

(2.) The grandfather of Jehu (1 Chr. 4:35).

(3.) One of David’s scribes or secretaries (2 Sam. 8:17).

(4.) A Netophathite (Jer. 40:8), a chief priest of the time of Zedekiah. He was carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon, and there put to death (2 Kings 25:18, 23).

(5.) Ezra 2:2.

(6.) Father of Ezra the scribe (7:1).

(7.) A ruler of the temple (Neh. 11:11).

(8.) A priest of the days of Jehoiakim (Neh. 12:1, 12).

(9.) The son of Neriah. When Zedekiah made a journey to Babylon to do homage to Nebuchadnezzar, Seraiah had charge of the royal gifts to be presented on that occasion. Jeremiah took advantage of the occasion, and sent with Seraiah a word of cheer to the exiles in Babylon, and an announcement of the doom in store for that guilty city. The roll containing this message (Jer. 50:1-8) Seraiah was to read to the exiles, and then, after fixing a stone to it, was to throw it into the Euphrates, uttering, as it sank, the prayer recorded in Jer. 51:59-64. Babylon was at this time in the height of its glory, the greatest and most powerful monarchy in the world. Scarcely seventy years elapsed when the words of the prophet were all fulfilled. Jer. 51:59 is rendered in the Revised Version, “Now Seraiah was chief chamberlain,” instead of “was a quiet prince,” as in the Authorized Version.

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From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(1.) The king’s scribe or secretary in the reign of David. (2 Samuel 8:17) (B.C. 1043.)

(2.) The high priest in the reign of Zedekiah. (2 Kings 25:18; 1 Chronicles 6:14; Jeremiah 52:24) (B.C. 594.)

(3.) The son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite. (2 Kings 25:23; Jeremiah 40:8)

(4.) The son of Kenaz and brother of Othniel. (1 Chronicles 4:13,14)

(5.) Ancestor of Jehu a Simeonite chieftain. (1 Chronicles 4:35)

(6.) One of the children of the province who returned with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:2) (B.C. 536.)

(7.) One of the ancestors of Ezra the scribe. (Ezra 7:1)

(8.) A priest, or priestly family, who signed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:2)

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(9.) A priest, the son of Hilkiah. (Nehemiah 11:11)

(10.) The head of a priestly house which went up from Babylon with Zerubbabel. (Nehemiah 12:12)

(11.) The son of Neriah and brother of Baruch. (Jeremiah 51:59,61) He went with Zedekiah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (B.C. 594.) Perhaps he was an officer who took charge of the royal caravan on its march, and fixed the places where it should halt.