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Elath; Eloth – Eliahba
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Elath; Eloth
e'-lath, or e'-loth ('eloth, 'elath; Ailon (), Ailath ()):
A seaport on the Red Sea in the territory of Edom. It is named along with Ezion-geber in the account of Israel's journey round the land of Edom (). It appears as Ailath, and Alion in the Septuagint, and in Josephus as Ilanis (Ant., VIII, vi, 4), while Eusebius (Onomasticon) has Aila. From this we may gather that the Aramaic Ilan or Ilana was in use as well as the Hebrew 'elath or 'eloth. The name, "grove," was doubtless derived from the presence of certain sacred trees. It may be identical with El-paran of , and Elah of . When David conquered Edom, Elath passed into the hands of Israel (). It was a position of great importance in connection with the trade with South Arabia. Here the merchant fleets of Solomon and Jehoshaphat were fitted out, and hence, they sailed (; ; ).
In the reign of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, Edom shook off the hand of Judah (), but under Amaziah and Uzziah it was again subdued (,,). Finally it was taken from Ahaz by Rezin, king of Syria. The Jews were driven out and the Syrians (Edomites?) took permanent possession (). It is identical with the modern `Aqaba, at the head of the gulf of that name.
W. Ewing
Elberith
el-be'-rith ().
See BAAL-BERITH.
Elcia
el'-shi-a, the Revised Version (British and American)
ELKIAH (which see).
Eldaah
el-da'-a ('elda`ah, "God has called"?):
A son of Midian (; ).
Eldad
el'-dad ('eldadh, "God has loved"):
One of the 70 elders chosen by Moses at the command of Yahweh to share "the burden of the people" (). Eldad and his companion Medad were not present with the rest at the tent of meeting, yet the Spirit rested also upon them and they prophesied in the camp ().
Eldad And Modad, Book Of
el'-dad, mo'-dad:
In the Septuagint they are called Eldad and Modad. In the King James Version the names are given as Eldad and Medad; meaning "God has loved" ("God loves") and "object of love" (?).
They were two of the seventy elders chosen by Moses (), and while the others obeyed the summons and went to the tabernacle, these two remained in the camp and prophesied (). The nature of their prophecy is not recorded, and this naturally became a good subject for the play of the imagination. It furnished the basis for a lost work which was quoted by Hermas (Vis 2 3): "The Lord is near to them who return unto him, as it is written in Eldad and Modad, who prophesied to the people in the wilderness." The Palestine Targums also filled in the subject of the prophecy of Eldad and Modad, and, as they have it, it related to the coming of Gog and Magog against Israel at the end of the days. One of the Targums has the expression, "The Lord is near to them that are in the hour of tribulation." The authors of the Targums were either dependent upon that work or upon a similar tradition; and the former of these views is the more probable. Lightfoot and Holtzman think the lengthy quotation in 1 Clem 23 and 2 Clem 11 is from the Book of Eldad and Modad. The work is found in the Stichometry of Nicephorus and consists of 400 stichoi, which would make it about twice the length of the Cant.
A. W. Fortune
Elder
see ELDER IN THE OLD TESTAMENT; ELDER IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Elder In The New Testament
(presbuteros):
(1) The word is used adjectivally to denote seniority (; ).
(2) Referring to the Jewish elders of the synagogue, usually associated with the scribes and Pharisees, and New Testament passages cited in the previous article.
(3) It denotes certain persons appointed to hold office in the Christian church, and to exercise spiritual oversight over the flock entrusted to them. From the references in ; it may be inferred that the churches generally had elders appointed over them. That "elders" and "bishops" were in apostolic and sub-apostolic times the same, is now almost universally admitted; in all New Testament references their functions are identical. The most probable explanation of the difference of names is that "elder" refers mainly to the person, and "bishop" to the office; the name "elder" emphasizes what he is, while "bishop," that is "overseer," emphasizes what the elder or presbyter does.
See BISHOP; CHURCH GOVERNMENT; MINISTRY.
A. C. Grant
Elder In The Old Testament
el'-der, (zaqen):
Among primitive peoples authority seems naturally to be invested in those who by virtue of greater age and, consequently, experience are best fitted to govern thus Iliad iii.149. Later the idea of age became merged in that of dignity (Il. ii.404, ii.570; Odyssey ii.14). In like manner the word patres came to be used among the Romans (Cic. Rep. 2,8,14). So also among the Germans authority was entrusted to those who were older; compare Tacitus Agricola. The same is true among the Arabians to the present day, the sheik being always a man of age as well as of authority.
From the first the Hebrews held this view of government, although the term "elder" came later to be used of the idea of the authority for which, at first, age was regarded necessary. Thus the office appears in both the Jahwist, J (9th century BC) (; ; , of the elders of the Hebrews; and of the Egyptians, ); and Elohist (E) (8th century BC) (; ; (the second Deuteronomist (D2)); , elders of Israel, or of the people. Compare the principle of selection of heads of tens, fifties, etc., ff, seventy being selected from a previous body of elders); compare Jahwist(J)-Elohist(E) (,). Seventy are also mentioned in , while in seventy-seven are mentioned, although this might be taken to include seven princes. Probably the number was not uniform.
Elder as a title continues to have place down through the times of the Judges (; ); compare ff into the kingdom. Saul asked to be honored before the elders (); the elders of Bethlehem appeared before Samuel (); the elders appeared before David in Hebron (; ); elders took part in the temple procession of Solomon (; ). They continued through the Persian period ,; ,; ,; margin and the Maccabean period APC Judith 6:16; 7:23; 8:10; 10:6; 13:12; 1Macc 12:35, while the New Testament presbuteros, ; ,; ; ; , makes frequent mention of the office.
The elders served as local magistrates, in bringing murderers to trial (; ), punishing a disobedient son (), inflicting penalty for slander (), for noncompliance with the Levirate marriage law ( ff), enforcing the Law (), conducting the service in expiation of unwitting violation of the Law ( ff).
In certain passages different classes of officers are mentioned as "judges and officers" (), "elders" and "officers" (), "heads, tribes, elders officers" (; ). It is probable that both classes were selected from among the elders, and that to one class was assigned the work of judging, and that the "officers" exercised executive functions (Schurer). In entirely Jewish communities the same men would be both officers of the community and elders of the synagogue. In this case the same men would have jurisdiction over civil and religious matters.
LITERATURE.
Schurer, GJV3, section 23, especially 175 ff Eng. edition, II, i, 149 ff; Benzinger, H A2, 51; Deissmann, Bibelstudien, 153 ff (sv. ...); BDB, 278 (...); Preuschen, Griechisch-Deutsches Handworterbuch, under the word, 958 f.
W. N. Stearns
Elead
el'-e-ad ('el`adh, "God has testified"):
An Ephraimite, slain while making a raid, by the men of Gath ().
Eleadah; Eladah
el-e-a'-da, (the King James Version) ('el`adhah, "God has adorned"):
An Ephraimite ().
Elealeh
e-le-a'-le ('el`aleh, "God has ascended"):
Lay in the country taken from Sihon and within the lot given to Reuben (,). "Their names being changed" seems to apply to all the towns mentioned. There is no indication of the other names. Elealeh is noticed with Heshbon in the oracles against Moab in ; ; . Eusebius (Onomasticon) locates it one Roman mile from Heshbon. It is represented today by el'Al, a mound crowned with ruins, about a mile North of Chesban.
Eleasa
el-e-a'-sa.
See ELASA.
Eleasah
el-e-a'-sa (in Hebrew identical with ELASAH, which see):
(1) A descendant of Judah (,).
(2) A Benjamite, a descendant of Saul (; ).
Eleazar
el-e-a'-zar, e-le-a'-zar ('el-`azar; Eleazar, "God is helper"):
(1) The 3rd son of Aaron by Elisheba (; ).
He married one of the daughters of Putiel, who bore him Phinehas (). With his father and 3 brothers he was consecrated to the priest's office (). After the destruction of Nadab and Abihu, he occupied a more important position, and he and Ithamar "ministered in the priest's office in the presence of Aaron their father" ( ; ff). He was given the oversight of the Levites and had charge of the tabernacle and all within it (; ). To Eleazar fell the duty of beating out for an altar covering the censers of Korah and his fellow-conspirators who had attempted to seize the priesthood (,). On the death of Aaron, Eleazar succeeded him ( ff). He assisted Moses with the census after the plague in the plains of Moab ( ff), and with Moses and the elders heard the petition of the daughters of Zelophehad who wished to be served as heirs to their father ( ff). After the entrance into Canaan, Eleazar and Joshua gave effect to the decision arrived at by giving the daughters of Zelophehad a share in the land of Manasseh (). He was priest and adviser to Joshua, the successor of Moses (; ff), whom he also assisted in partitioning Canaan among the tribes (; ; ; ). He was buried in the hill (the Revised Version, margin "Gibeah") of Phinehas his son in the hill country of Ephraim (). For some reason unknown the descendants of Ithamar seem to have held the chief position among the priests from Eli till the accession of Solomon, when Abiathar was sent into retirement, and Zadok, the descendant of Eleazar, was appointed in his place ( ff). Ezra was a descendant of Zadok ( ff); and the high priest's office was in the family of Zadok till the time of the Maccabees.
(2) The son of Abinadab, sanctified to keep the ark of Yahweh, when it was brought from Beth-shemesh to Kiriath-jearim after being sent back by the Philistines ().
(3) The son of Dodai, one of David's three mighty men. A famous feat of arms with David at Ephes-dammim is recorded ( f where he is named the son of Dodo).
(4) A Levite, a son of Mahli, a Merarite. It is recorded that he had no sons, but daughters only, who were married to their cousins (,; ).
(5) A priest who accompanied Ezra from Babylon (); the son of Phinehas. (5) and (6) may be identical.
(6) A priest who took part in the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem ().
(7) A son of Mattathias and brother of Judas Maccabeus ( f; 2Macc 8:23).
See ASMONEANS; MACCABEES.
(8, 9) Two others are mentioned in /APC 1Macc 8:17; 2Macc 6:18 ff.
(10) An ancestor of Jesus, 3 generations before Joseph ().
S. F. Hunter
Eleazurus
el-e-a-zu'-rus, the Revised Version (British and American)
ELIASIBUS (which see).
Elect
e-lekt':
That is, "chosen," "selected."
In the Old Testament the word represents derivatives of bachar, elegit;
In the New Testament eklektos. It means properly an object or objects of selection.
This primary meaning sometimes passes into that of "eminent," "valuable," "choice"; often thus as a fact, in places where the King James Version uses "chosen" (or "elect") to translate the original (eg. ; ). In the King James Version "elect" (or "chosen") is used of Israel as the race selected for special favor and to be the special vehicle of Divine purposes (so 4 times in Apocrypha, Tobit and Ecclus); of the great Servant of Yahweh (compare ; the "Christ of God, his chosen"); compare eminent saints as Jacob, Moses, Rufus (); "the lady," and her "sister" of 2 Jn; of the holy angels (); with a possible suggestion of the lapse of other angels. Otherwise, and prevalently in the New Testament, it denotes a human community, also described as believers, saints, the Israel of God; regarded as in some sense selected by Him from among men, objects of His special favor, and correspondingly called to special holiness and service.
See further under ELECTION. In the English versions "elect" is not used as a verb: "to choose" is preferred; eg. ; .
Handley Dunelm
Elect Lady
e-lekt' la'-di (eklekte kuria; ):
In accordance with strict grammatical usage these words of address may be translated in three ways: "to an elect lady" (which as an address is too indefinite); or, both words being taken as proper names, "to Eklekte Kuria" (an improbable combination of two very rare names); or "to Eklekte, lady" = anglice, "to the lady (or `Madam') Eklekte."
The other translations which have been given--"to the elect lady" or "to the elect Kuria"--are open to objection on account of the omission of the article; but this violation of rule is perhaps not without parallel (compare ).
The translation adopted will partly depend upon whether we regard the epistle as addressed to an individual or to a community. Dr. Rendel Harris believes this question to be settled by the discovery in the papyri of numerous instances which prove that kurios and kuria were used by ancient letter-writers as terms of familiar endearment, applicable to brother, sister, son, wife, or intimate friend of either sex (Expositor, March, 1901; see also Findlay, Fellowship in the Life Eternal, chapter iii). In the light of this suggestion we should naturally translate, "to my (dear) lady Eklekte."
Grammatically, this is strongly supported by and (Timotheo gnesio .... agapeto .... tekno = "to Tim othy my true .... beloved .... child"); and the fact that the name Eklekte has not yet been discovered, though Eklektos has, offers no grave objection. This is the translation favored by Clement of Alexandria, who says of the epistle: scripta vero est ad quandam Babyloniam nomine Electam, significat autem electionem ecclesiae sanctae ("It is written to a certain Babylonian, Electa by name; but it signifies the further election of the holy church"). It seems doubtful whether he means by the last clause that Electa is simply a personification of the church, or a real person whose name was derived from the Christian idea of election. Either way the rendering, "to the lady Electa," is suitable, and upon the whole it seems the best. Eklekte is not an adjective but a noun. If a person is intended, it is "the lady Electa"; if a church, it is designated, not "the elect Lady," but "the lady Elect." The mention of "thy elect sister" in does not hinder either supposition.
See further CYRIA; JOHN, THE EPISTLES OF. Robert Law
Election
e-lek'-shun (ekloge, "choice," "selection"):
Contents
I. THE WORD IN SCRIPTURE
II. THE MYSTERIOUS ELEMENT
III. INCIDENCE UPON COMMUNITY AND INDIVIDUAL
IV. COGNATE AND ILLUSTRATIVE BIBLICAL LANGUANGE
V. LIMITATIONS OF INQUIRY HERE. SCOPE OF ELECTION
VI. PERSEVERANCE
VII. CONSIDERATIONS IN RELIEF OF THOUGHT
1. Antinomies 2. Fatalism Another Thing 3. The Moral Aspects 4. "We know in Part" 5. The Unknown Future
I. The Word in Scripture.
The word is absent from the Old Testament, where the related Hebrew verb (bachar) is frequent. In the New Testament it occurs 6 times (; ,,; ; ). In all these places it appears to denote an act of Divine selection taking effect upon human objects so as to bring them into special and saving relations with God: a selection such as to be at once a mysterious thing, transcending human analysis of its motives (so eminently in ), and such as to be knowable by its objects, who are (2 Pet) exhorted to "make it sure," certain, a fact to consciousness. It is always (with one exception, ; see below) related to a community, and thus has close affinity with the Old Testament teachings upon the privileged position of Israel as the chosen, selected race (see under ELECT). The objects of election in the New Testament are, in effect, the Israel of God, the new, regenerate race called to special privilege and special service. From one point of view, that of the external marks of Christianity, they may thus be described as the Christian community in its widest sense, the sense in which the sacramental position and the real are prima facie assumed to coincide. But from 2 Peter it is manifest that much more than this has to be said if the incidence of the word present to the writer's mind is to be rightly felt. It is assumed there that the Christian, baptized and a worshipper, may yet need to make "sure" his "calling and election" as a fact to his consciousness. This implies conditions in the "election" which far transcend the tests of sacred rite and external fellowship.
II. The Mysterious Element.
Such impressions of depth and mystery in the word are confirmed by the other, passages. In the context is charged with the most urgent and even staggering challenges to submission and silence in the presence of the inscrutable. To illustrate large assertions as to the liberty and sovereignty of the Divine dealings with man, the apostle brings in Esau and Jacob, individuals, twins as yet unborn, and points to the inscrutable difference of the Divine action toward them as such. Somehow, as a matter of fact, the Eternal appears as appointing to unborn Esau a future of comparative disfavor and to Jacob of favor; a future announced to the still pregnant mother. Such discrimination was made and announced, says the apostle, "that the purpose of God according to election might stand." In the whole passage the gravest stress is laid upon the isolation of the "election" from the merit or demerit of its objects.
III. Incidence upon Community and Individual.
It is observable that the same characteristic, the inscrutable, the sovereign, is attached in the Old Testament to the "election" of a favored and privileged nation. Israel is repeatedly reminded (see eg. De 7) that the Divine call and choice of them to be the people of God has no relation to their virtues, or to their strength. The reason lies out of sight, in the Divine mind. So too "the Israel of God" () in the New Testament, the Christian community, "the new, peculiar race," holds its great privileges by quite unmerited favor (eg. ). And the nature of the case here leads, as it does not in the case of the natural Israel, to the thought of a Divine election of the individual, similarly inscrutable and sovereign. For the idea of the New Israel involves the thought that in every genuine member of it the provisions of the New Covenant ( f) are being fulfilled: the sins are remembered no more, and the law is written in the heart. The bearer of the Christian name, but not of the Christian spiritual standing and character, having "not the Spirit of Christ, is none of his" (). The chosen community accordingly, not as it seems ab extra, but as it is in its essence, is a fellowship of individuals each of whom is an object of unmerited Divine favor, taking effect in the new life. And this involves the exercise of electing mercy. Compare eg. . And consider (where observe the exceptional use of "the election," meaning "the company of the elect").
IV. Cognate and Illustrative Biblical Language.
It is obvious that the aspects of mystery which gather round the word "election" are not confined to it alone. An important class of words, such as "calling," "predestination" "foreknowledge," "purpose," "gift," bears this same character; asserting or connoting, in appropriate contexts, the element of the inscrutable and sovereign in the action of the Divine will upon man, and particularly upon man's will and affection toward God. And it will be felt by careful students of the Bible in its larger and more general teachings that one deep characteristic of the Book, which with all its boundless multiplicity is yet one, is to emphasize on the side of man everything that can humble, convict, reduce to worshipping silence (see for typical passages ,; ), and on the side of God everything which can bring home to man the transcendence and sovereign claims of his almighty Maker. Not as unrelated utterances, but as part of a vast whole of view and teaching, occur such passages as , and , and even the stern, or rather awestruck, phrases of ,, where the potter and the clay are used in illustration.
V. Limitations of Inquiry Here. Scope of Election.
We have sought thus in the simplest outline to note first the word "election" and then some related Scriptural words and principles, weighing the witness they bear to a profound mystery in the action of the Divine will upon man, in the spiritual sphere. What we have thus seen leaves still unstated what, according to Scripture, is the goal and issue of the elective act. In this article, remembering that it is part of a Bible Encyclopedia, we attempt no account of the history of thought upon election, in the successive Christian centuries, nor again any discussion of the relation of election in Scripture to extra-Scriptural philosophies, to theories of necessity, determination, fatalism. We attempt only to see the matter as it lies before us in the Bible. Studying it so, we find that this mysterious action of God on man has relation, in the Christian revelation, to nothing short of the salvation of the individual (and of the community of such individuals) from sin and condemnation, and the preservation of the saved to life eternal. We find this not so much in any single passage as in the main stream of Biblical language and tone on the subject of the Divine selective action. But it is remarkable that in the recorded thought of our Lord Himself we find assertions in this direction which could hardly be more explicit. See ,,; . To the writer the best summary of the Scriptural evidence, at once definite and restrained, is the language of the 17th Anglican art.: "They which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God be called according to God's purpose by His Spirit working in due season; they through grace obey the calling; they be justified freely; they be made sons of God by adoption; they be made like the image of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ; they walk religiously in good works, and at length, by God's mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity."
VI. Perseverance.
The anxious problem of PERSEVERANCE will be treated under that word. It may be enough here to say that alike what we are permitted to read as revealed, and what we may humbly apprehend as the reason of the case, tend to the reverent belief that a perseverance (rather of the Lord than of the saints) is both taught and implied. But when we ponder the nature of the subject we are amply prepared for the large range of Scriptures which on the other hand condemn and preclude, for the humble disciple, so gross a misuse of the doctrine as would let it justify one moment's presumption upon Divine mercy in the heart which is at the same time sinning against the Divine love and holiness.
VII. Considerations in Relief of Thought.
We close, in view of this last remark, with some detached notes in relief, well remembering the unspeakable trial which to many devout minds the word before us has always brought.
1. Antinomies:
First in place and importance is the thought that a spiritual fact like election, which belongs to the innermost purpose and work of the Eternal, necessarily leads us to a region where comprehension is impossible, and where we can only reverently apprehend. The doctrine passes upward to the sphere where antinomies live and move, where we must be content to hear what sound to us contradictions, but which are really various aspects of infinite truth. Let us be content to know that the Divine choice is sovereign; and also that "his tender mercies are over all his works," that `He willeth not the death of a sinner,' that "God is love." Let us relieve the tension of such submissive reliance by reverently noting how the supreme antinomy meets one type of human need with its one side, and with its other another. To the "fearful saint" the Divine sovereignty of love is a sacred cordial. To the seeking penitent the Divine comprehensiveness of love opens the door of peace. To the deluded theorist who does not love and obey, the warnings of a fall and ruin which are possible, humanly, from any spiritual height, are a merciful beacon on the rocks.
2. Fatalism Another Thing:
Further, we remember that election, in Scripture, is as different as possible from the fatal necessity of, eg. the Stoics. It never appears as mechanical, or as a blind destiny. It has to do with the will of a God who has given us otherwise supreme proofs that He is all-good and all-kind. And it is related to man not as a helpless and innocent being but as a sinner. It is never presented as an arbitrary force majeure. Even in the "silence" called for is not as if to say, "You are hopelessly passive in the grasp of infinite power," but, "You, the creature, cannot judge your Maker, who must know infinitely more of cause and reason than his handiwork can know." The mystery, we may be sure, had behind it supreme right and reason, but in a region which at present at least we cannot penetrate. Again, election never appears as a violation of human will. For never in the Bible is man treated as irresponsible. In the Bible the relation of the human and Divine wills is inscrutable; the reality of both is assured.
3. The Moral Aspects:
Never is the doctrine presented apart from a moral context. It is intended manifestly to deepen man's submission to--not force, but--mystery, where such submission means faith. In the practical experience of the soul its designed effect is to emphasize in the believer the consciousness (itself native to the true state of grace) that the whole of his salvation is due to the Divine mercy, no part of it to his merit, to his virtue, to his wisdom. In the sanctified soul, which alone, assuredly, can make full use of the mysterious truth, is it designed to generate, together and in harmony, awe, thanksgiving and repose.
4. "We Know in Part":
A necessary caution in view of the whole subject is that here, if anywhere in the regions of spiritual study, we inevitably "know in part," and in a very limited part. The treatment of election has at times in Christian history been carried on as if, less by the light of revelation than by logical processes, we could tabulate or map the whole subject. Where this has been done, and where at the same time, under a sort of mental rather than spiritual fascination, election has been placed in the foreground of the system of religious thought, and allowed to dominate the rest, the truth has (to say the least) too often been distorted into an error. The Divine character has been beclouded in its beauty. Sovereignty has been divorced from love, and so defaced into an arbitrary fiat, which has for its only reason the assertion of omnipotence. Thus, the grievous wrong has been done of aischron ti legein peri tou Theiou, "defamation of God." For example, the revelation of a positive Divine selection has been made by inference to teach a corresponding rejection ruthless and terrible, as if the Eternal Love could ever by any possibility reject or crush even the faintest aspiration of the created spirit toward God. For such a thought not even the dark words of give Scriptural excuse. The case there in hand, Pharaoh's, is anything but one of arbitrary power trampling on a human will looking toward God and right. Once more, the subject is one as to which we must on principle be content with knowledge so fragmentary that its parts may seem contradictory in our present imperfect light. The one thing we may be sure of behind the veil is, that nothing can be hidden there which will really contradict the supreme and ruling truth that God is love.
5. The Unknown Future:
Finally, let us from another side remember that here, as always in the things of the Spirit, "we know in part." The chosen multitude are sovereignly "called, .... justified, .... glorified" (,). But for what purposes? Certainly not for an end terminating in themselves. They are saved, and kept, and raised to the perfect state, for the service of their Lord. And not till the cloud is lifted from the unseen life can we possibly know what that service under eternal conditions will include, what ministries of love and good in the whole universe of being.
Handley Dunelm
Electrum
e-lek'-trum:
The Revised Version, margin rendering of chashmal, of ,; Septuagint elektron, Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 AD.) electrum). Both the King James Version and the English Revised Version have "amber" while the American Standard Revised Version has "glowing metal." Gesenius says electrum must not be understood as being here used for amber, but for a kind of metal remarkable for brightness, compounded of gold and silver. "Amber" is undoubtedly a poor rendering, as the Hebrew term means "polished brass." the American Standard Revised Version has the more correct rendering. Amber, however, may well have been known to Ezekiel (Encyclopaedia Biblica, which see).
See also STONES, PRECIOUS; BUYING, IV.
A. W. Fortune
Element; Elements
el'-e-ment, (ta stoicheia, "the letters of the alphabet," "the elements out of which all things are formed," "the heavenly bodies," "the fundamental principles of any art or science"):
(1) In , the constituent parts of the physical universe ("elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat," the American Revised Version, margin "the heavenly bodies").
(2) In ,, the Revised Version (British and American) has "rudiments," as in the King James Version margin, and in ,, where the reference is to imperfect Jewish ordinances.
See RUDIMENTS.
Eleph
e'-lef (ha-'eleph, "the ox"):
A place in the lot of Benjamin not far from Jerusalem (). The name is omitted by Septuagint, unless, indeed, it is combined with that of Zelah. It may be identical with Lifta, a village W. of Jerusalem (Conder, HDB, under the word).
Others identify Lifta with Nephtoah.
Elephant
el'-e-fant
( the King James Version margin, the American Revised Version, margin "hippopotamus," the Revised Version (British and American) "ivory"); the King James Version margin; the King James Version; Possibly in Job it is the extinct mammoth.
See BEHEMOTH; IVORY.
Elephantine
el-e-fan-ti'-ne.
See SEVENEH.
Eleutherus
e-lu'-ther-us (Eleutheros; ):
A river separating Syria and Phoenicia.
Eleven, The
e-lev'-'-n, (hoi hendeka):
The eleven apostles remaining after the death of Judas. The definite article used serves to designate them as a distinct and definite group whose integrity was not destroyed by the loss of one of the twelve. The college of "the Twelve" had come to be so well recognized that the gospel writers all used on occasions the word with the definite article to represent the Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. This custom still remained and the numeral merely changed, as, "Afterward he was manifested unto the eleven" (; compare ,; ). On the other hand, however, the substantive is also sometimes used, as "The eleven disciples went into Galilee" (; compare also ). As an illustration of the fixedness of usage, Paul refers to the eleven as "the twelve" when he recounts the appearances of Jesus after His resurrection: "And that he appeared to Cephas; then to the twelve" ().
Walter G. Clippinger
Eleven; Stars
e-lev'-'-n.
See ASTRONOMY.
Elhanan
el-ha'-nan ('elchanan, "whom God gave"):
(1) A great warrior in the army of David who slew a Philistine giant. There is a discrepancy between and . In the former passage we read, "And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan, the son of Jaare-oregim the Beth-lehemite, slew Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam"; while in the latter we are told, "And there was again war with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam." Most modern critics prefer as the original text of the latter part of the two discrepant statements the following: "and Elhanan the son of Jair the Beth-lehemite slew Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam." It is contended that the Chronicler slightly modified the text before him, in order to bring it into harmony with , where David is said to have slain a Philistine giant Goliath. There is almost unanimous agreement that "Jaare-oregim" is a corrupt reading, and the "Jair" in 1Ch is to be preferred. From Jerome to the present some scholars identify Elhanan with David, and thus remove the discrepancy. Ewald ( Hist, III, 70) argued that the name "Goliath" was inserted in and 21 by the narrators whose compositions are embodied in Samuel, Elhanan being the real victor over Goliath, while David's antagonist was simply called "the Philistine."
(2) The son of Dodo of Bethlehem, one of David's mighty men (; ). Some moderns think that there was only one Elhanan, and that he was the son of Dodo of the clan of Jair.
John Richard Sampey
Eli
e'-li (`eli):
A descendant of Ithamar, the fourth son of Aaron, who exercised the office of high priest in Shiloh at the time of the birth of Samuel. For the first time in Israel, Eli combined in his own person the functions of high priest and judge, judging Israel for 40 years (). The incidents in Eli's life are few; indeed, the main interest of the narrative is in the other characters who are associated with him. The chief interest centers in Samuel. In Eli's first interview with Hannah ( ff), she is the central figure; in the second interview ( ff), it is the child Samuel. When Eli next appears, it is as the father of Hophni and Phinehas, whose worthless and licentious lives had profaned their priestly office, and earned for them the title "men of Belial" (or "worthlessness").
Eli administered no stern rebuke to his sons, but only a gentle chiding of their greed and immorality. Thereafter he was warned by a nameless prophet of the downfall of his house, and of the death of his two sons in one day (), a message later confirmed by Samuel, who had received this word directly from Yahweh Himself ( ff). The prophecy was not long in fulfillment. During the next invasion by the Philistines, the Israelites were utterly routed, the ark of God was captured, and Hophni and Phinehas were both slain. When the news reached Eli, he was so overcome that he "fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck brake, and he died" (). The character of Eli, while sincere and devout, seems to have been entirely lacking in firmness. He appears from the history to have been a good man, full of humility and gentleness, but weak and indulgent. His is not a strong personality; he is always overshadowed by some more commanding or interesting figure.
A. C. Grant
Eli, Eli, Lama, Sabachthani
e'-li or a'-le, la'-ma, sa-bak'-tha-ni.
See ELOI.
Eliab
e-li'-ab ('eli'abh, "God is father"):
(1) Prince of the tribe of Zebulun in the Exodus (; ; ,; ).
(2) A Reubenite, father of Dathan and Abiram (,; ).
(3) Eldest son of Jesse and brother of David (), once called Elihu (). He was of commanding appearance () and when serving with Saul's army at the time when it was confronting the Philistines and Goliath, was inclined to lord it over his brother David ( f). His daughter Abihail became a Wife of Rehoboam ().
(4) An Ephraimite, an ancestor of Samuel (); called Eliel in , and Elihu in .
(5) A Gadire warrior with David (), one of 11 mighty men (,).
(6) A Levite musician (,; ).
(7) An ancestor of Judith ( /APC Judith 8:1; compare /APC Judith 9:2).
F. K. Farr
Eliada; Eliadah
e-li'-a-da, ('elyadha`, "God is knowing." Compare HPN, 219, 266, 301; Epidae, or Elidae):
(1) One of the sons of David (; ; called BEELIADA, (which see)).
(2) A descendant of Benjamin and a captain in the army of Jehoshaphat, commander of 200,000 men ().
(3) Father of Rezon, an "adversary" of Solomon (, the King James Version "Eliadah").
Eliadas
e-li'-a-das (Eliadas):
A son of Zamoth who had married a strange wife ( /APC 1Esdras 9:28); called Elioenai in .
Eliadun
e-li'-a-dun, the Revised Version (British and American)
ILIADUN (which see).
Eliah
e-li'-a.
See ELIJAH.
Eliahba
e-li'-a-ba, e-li-a'-ba ('elyach-ba', "God hides"):
One of David's 30 mighty men (; ).
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr (1915). Public domain. Text from the CrossWire Bible Society.