Difference between revisions of "Eliezer"

<p> ("my God a help".) </p> <p> &nbsp;1. &nbsp;Genesis 15:2, "the steward of Abram's house, E. of Damascus," literally, "the son of the business," or possession (i.e. heir) of my house. [[Entering]] [[Canaan]] by Damascus, [[Abram]] took thence his chief retainer, and adopted him in the absence of a son and heir. He was not "born in Abram's house" as &nbsp;Genesis 15:3 of KJV represents in contradiction to &nbsp;Genesis 15:2 (unless it was while Abram was in Damascus); but, as [[Hebrew]] expresses, was "son of his house," i.e. adopted as such, according to the paternal relations then subsisting between patriarchs and their servants. </p> <p> Thus, he discharged with fidelity, prayerful trust in Providence, and tact, the delicate commission of choosing a wife from his master's connections for his master's son Isaac. Justin (36:2) and [[Josephus]] (Ant. 1:7, sec. 2), from Nicholaus of Damascus, assert that [[Abraham]] reigned in Damascus. Eliezer's prayer, "O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray Thee send me good speed today, and show kindness unto my master;" his looking for a providential token to guide him; God's gracious answer in fact; and his thanksgiving, "Blessed be the Lord God of my ... who has not left destitute my master of His mercy and His truth, I being in the way, the Lord led me:" are a sample of God's special care for His people's temporal concerns, and of the way to secure it (Genesis 24). </p> <p> &nbsp;2. [[Moses]] and Zipporah's second son; so-called "because, said Moses, the God of my father was my help ... from the sword of Pharaoh" (&nbsp;Exodus 18:4; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 23:15; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 23:17). Remained with [[Jethro]] his grandfather when Moses returned to Egypt. [[Zipporah]] after going part of the way with him was sent back by Moses (&nbsp;Exodus 4:18; &nbsp;Exodus 4:24-26; &nbsp;Exodus 18:2, etc.). Jethro took Zipporah and [[Gershom]] and [[Eliezer]] to Moses in the wilderness, upon hearing of the Exodus. Had one son, Rehabiah, to whom were born very many sons (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 23:17; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 26:25-26). [[Shelomith]] was his descendant. (See &nbsp;SHELOMITH.) </p> <p> &nbsp;3. &nbsp;1 Chronicles 7:8. </p> <p> &nbsp;4. &nbsp;1 Chronicles 15:24. </p> <p> &nbsp;5. &nbsp;1 Chronicles 27:16. </p> <p> &nbsp;6. Dodavah's son, of [[Mareshah]] in [[Judah]] (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 20:35-37). [[Prophesied]] against [[Jehoshaphat]] that "the Lord had broken (at Ezion Geber) his works" (i.e. his ships of [[Tarshish]] designed to go to [[Ophir]] for gold) for joining himself with [[Ahaziah]] king of [[Israel]] "who did very wickedly" (&nbsp;1 Kings 22:49). On Ahaziah's proposing a second joint expedition, Jehoshaphat taught by bitter experience (&nbsp;2 Corinthians 6:14-18; &nbsp;Revelation 18:4) refused. The names suggest that possibly he was sprung from Eleazer son of [[Dodo]] (&nbsp;2 Samuel 23:9), one of David's three mighties. </p> <p> &nbsp;7. A "chief" and "man of understanding" whom Ezra sent to [[Iddo]] at [[Casiphia]] in order to bring the Nethinim, as minister for the house of God (&nbsp;Ezra 8:16). </p> <p> &nbsp;8. &nbsp;Ezra 10:18; &nbsp;Ezra 10:23; &nbsp;Ezra 10:31. </p> <p> &nbsp;9. &nbsp;Luke 3:29. </p>

<p> 1. Stewardof Abraham's household. He was 'of Damascus' though born in Abraham's house. &nbsp;Genesis 15:2 . It was probably he who was sent to obtain a wife for Isaac. He was evidently a devout man, and trusted in God to prosper his journey. His mission is a beautiful type of the [[Holy]] Spirit's work in providing a bride for the Lord Jesus, the object for which He is now gathering the church. Eliezer placed the jewels on [[Rebekah]] which she wore on her way to Isaac, answering to the graces or fruit of the Spirit with which He adorns those He is leading to the heavenly Bridegroom. </p> <p> &nbsp;Genesis 24:1-67 . </p> <p> &nbsp;2. Second son of Moses and Zipporah, so named by Moses because 'God' had been 'his help.' He, with his mother and his brother were left in the care of Jethro until after the Exodus, when they joined Moses in the wilderness. &nbsp; Exodus 18:4; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 23:15,17; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 26:25 . </p> <p> &nbsp;3. Son of Becher, a Benjamite. &nbsp; 1 Chronicles 7:8 . </p> <p> 4. [[Priest]] who assisted in bringing up the ark to Jerusalem. &nbsp;1 Chronicles 15:24 . </p> <p> 5. Son of [[Zichri]] and 'ruler' of the Reubenites. &nbsp;1 Chronicles 27:16 . </p> <p> &nbsp;6. Son of Dodavah: he was the prophet who rebuked Jehoshaphat for joining himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, for Ahaziah 'did very wickedly.' &nbsp; 2 Chronicles 20:35-37 . </p> <p> &nbsp;7. One whom Ezra sent to fetch Levites to accompany him to Jerusalem. &nbsp; Ezra 8:16 . </p> <p> &nbsp;8-10. Three who had married strange wives. &nbsp; Ezra 10:18,23,31 . </p> <p> &nbsp;11. Son of Jorim, in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus. &nbsp; Luke 3:29 . </p>

<li> A prophet in the time of Jehoshaphat (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 20:37 ). Others of this name are mentioned &nbsp;Luke 3:29; &nbsp;Ezra 8:16; &nbsp;10:18,23,31 . <div> <p> &nbsp;Copyright StatementThese dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated [[Bible]] Dictionary, Third Edition, published by [[Thomas]] Nelson, 1897. Public Domain. </p> <p> &nbsp;Bibliography InformationEaston, Matthew George. Entry for 'Eliezer'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/e/eliezer.html. 1897. </p> </div> </li>

<p> &nbsp;Eliezer (&nbsp;ç'li-ç'zer). To whom God is help. &nbsp;Genesis 15:2. A name which occurs 11 times in the Old Testament. The most distinguished person who bore it was Abraham's steward and confidential servant. Compare &nbsp;Genesis 24:2. </p>

<p> (Hebrew id. &nbsp;אֵַליעֶזֶר, &nbsp;God is his &nbsp;help, a modification of the name &nbsp;Eleazar [see LAZARUS]; Sept, &nbsp;Ε᾿λιέζερ and &nbsp;Ε᾿λιέζερ, N.T. &nbsp;Ε᾿λιέζερ ), the name of eleven men. </p> <p> &nbsp;1. "ELIEZER OF DAMASCUS," mentioned in &nbsp;Genesis 15:2-3, apparently as a house-born domestic, (See [[Slave]]) and steward of Abraham, and hence likely, in the absence of direct issue, to become the patriarch's heir. B.C. 2088. The Sept. interprets the terms thus: "But the son of Masek, my house-born maid, is this Heliezer of Damascus." It appeared even thus early that the passage of [[Scripture]] in which the name of Eliezer occurs is one of some difficulty. Abraham, being promised a son, says, "I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of [[Damascus]] (&nbsp;דִּמֶּשֶׂק &nbsp;אֵַליעֶזֶר &nbsp;הוּא &nbsp;, he of Damascus, Eliezer) ... Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in mine house is mine heir" (&nbsp;Genesis 15:2-3). The common notion is that Eliezer was Abraham's house-born slave, adopted as his heir, and meanwhile his chief and confidential servant, and the same who was afterwards sent into [[Mesopotamia]] to seek a wife for Isaac (q.v.). This last point we may dismiss with the remark that there is not the least evidence that 'the elder servant of his house" (&nbsp;Genesis 24:2), whom Abraham charged with this mission, was the same as Eliezer. The obvious meaning is that Eliezer was born in Damascus, and how is this compatible with the notion of his being Abraham's house-born slave, seeing that Abraham's household never was at Damascus? It is true that there is a tradition, quoted by Josephus from [[Nicolaus]] of Damascus (Ant. 1:7, 4), that Abraham "reigned in Damascus;" but the tradition was probably founded on this very passage, and has no claim on our belief. The Mohammedans call him Dameshak, or Damascennis, and believe him to have been a black slave given to Abraham by Nimrod, at the time when he saw him, by virtue of the name of God, walking out of the midst of the flames (Ur), into which he had been cast by his orders. (See [[Abraham]]). </p> <p> The expression, "the steward of mine house," in &nbsp;Genesis 24:2, &nbsp;בֶּן &nbsp;מֶשֶׁק &nbsp;בֵּיתַּי (note the alliteration between the obscure term &nbsp;meshek and &nbsp;Dammesek), literally translated, is "the son of possession of my house," i.e., one who shall possess my house, my property, after my death, and is therefore exactly the same as the phrase in the next verse, "the son of my house (&nbsp;בֶּןבֵּיתַי, paraphrased by "one born in mine house") is mine heir." This removes every objection to Eliezer's being of Damascus, and enables us to dispense with the tradition; for it is no longer necessary to suppose that Eliezer was a house-born slave, or a servant at all, and leaves it more probable that he was some near relative whom Abraham regarded as his heir-at-law. It is by no means certain that "this Eliezer" was present in Abraham's camp at all; and we, of course, cannot know in what degree he stood related &nbsp;to Abraham, or under what circumstances he was born at, or belonged to Damascus. It is possible that he lived there at the very time when Abraham thus spoke of him, and that he is hence called "Eliezer of Damascus." This view removes another difficulty, which arises from the fact that, while Abraham speaks of Eliezer as his heir, his nephew Lot was in his neighborhood, and had until lately been the companion of his wanderings. If Eliezer was Abraham's servant, it might well occasion surprise that he should speak of him and not of Lot as his heir; but this surprise ceases when we regard Eliezer as also a relative, and if so, a nearer relative than Lot, although not, like Lot, the companion of his journeys. Some have supposed that Lot and Eliezer were, in fact, the same person; and this would be an excellent explanation if the [[Scriptures]] afforded sufficient grounds for it. (See Gesenius, Thes. Hebrew s.v. &nbsp;מֶשֶׁק; Rosenmuller, on &nbsp;Genesis 15:1-21; Knobel, &nbsp;Comment. in loc.) </p> <p> &nbsp;2. A son of Becher, and grandson of [[Benjamin]] (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 7:8). B.C. post 1856. </p> <p> &nbsp;3. (Josephus &nbsp;Ε᾿λεάζαρος &nbsp;, Ant. 2:13, 1.) The second of the two sons of Moses and Zipporah, born during the exile in Midian, to whom his father gave this name, "because, said he, the God of my fathers was my help, that delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh" (&nbsp;Exodus 18:4; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 23:15; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 23:17). B.C. cir. 1690. He remained with his mother and brother Gershom, in the care of Jethro his grandfather, when Moses returned to [[Egypt]] (&nbsp;Exodus 4:18), she having been sent back to her father by Moses (&nbsp;Exodus 18:2), though she set off to accompany him, and went part of the way with him. Jethro brought back Zipporah and her two sons to Moses in the wilderness, after he heard of the departure of the [[Israelites]] from Egypt (18). Eliezer had one son, Rehabiah, from whom sprang a numerous posterity (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 23:17; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 26:25-26). Shelomith, in the reigns of [[Saul]] and David (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 26:28), who had the care of all the treasures of things dedicated to God, was descended from Eliezer in the 6th generation, if the genealogy in &nbsp;1 Chronicles 26:25, is complete. </p> <p> &nbsp;4. One of the priests who blew with trumpets before the ark when it was brought to Jerusalem (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 15:24). B.C. 1043. </p> <p> &nbsp;5. Son of Zichri, and chief of the Reubenites under David (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 27:16). B.C. ante 1013. </p> <p> &nbsp;6. A prophet (son of [[Dodavah]] of Mareshah), who foretold to Jehoshaphat (q.v.) that the merchant fleet which he fitted out in partnership with Ahaziah should be wrecked, and thus prevented from sailing to Tarshish (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 20:37). B.C. 895. </p> <p> &nbsp;7. Son of Jorim, and father of Joseh, of the private lineage of David prior to [[Salathiel]] (&nbsp;Luke 3:29). B.C. ante 588. </p> <p> &nbsp;8. One of the chiefs of the [[Jews]] during the exile, sent by Ezra, with others from Ahava, to Casiphia, to induce some Levites and Nethinim to join the party returning to Jerusalem (&nbsp;Ezra 8:16). B.C. 459. </p> <p> &nbsp;9. One of the priests (of the kindred of Jeshua) who divorced his [[Gentile]] wife after the exile (&nbsp;Ezra 10:18). B.C. 458. </p> <p> &nbsp;10. A Levite who did the same (&nbsp;Ezra 10:23). B.C. 458. </p> <p> &nbsp;11. An [[Israelite]] of the lineage of Harim, who did the same (&nbsp;Ezra 10:31). B.C. 458. </p>

<p> '''''el''''' -'''''i''''' -'''''ē´zẽr''''' , '''''ē''''' -'''''lı̄''''' -'''''ē´zẽr''''' (&nbsp; אליעזר , <i> ''''''ĕlı̄‛ezer''''' </i> ; &nbsp;Ἐλιέζερ , <i> '''''Eliézer''''' </i> , "God is help"): </p> <p> (1) The chief servant of Abram (&nbsp;Genesis 15:2 ); the American Standard Revised Version "Eliezer of Damascus," the English Revised Version "Dammesek Eliezer." The Hebrew is peculiar: literally, "And the son of the possession ( <i> '''''mesheḳ''''' </i> ) of my house is <i> '''''Dammeseḳ''''' </i> (of) Eliezer." A possible but unlikely meaning is that his property would become the possession of Damascus, the city of Eliezer. [[Targum]] [[Syriac]] (Revised Version margin) read "Eliezer the Damascene": this supposes a reading, "Eliezer <i> '''''ha''''' </i> - <i> '''''dammasḳı̄''''' </i> ̌ " or " <i> '''''mid''''' </i> - <i> '''''dammeseḳ''''' </i> ̌ ." The text may be corrupt: the assonance between <i> '''''mesheḳ''''' </i> and Dammeseq is suspicious. Abram calls Eliezer "one born in my house" i.e. a dependant, a member of his household, and so regards him as his heir, Lot having gone from him (Gen 13). Eliezer is probably the servant, "the eider of his house, that ruled over all that he had," of Gen 24. </p> <p> (2) The 2nd son of Moses and Zipporah, called thus for "the God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh" (&nbsp;Exodus 18:4; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 23:15 ). </p> <p> (3) A son of Becher, one of the sons of Benjamin (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 7:8 ). </p> <p> (4) A priest who assisted in bringing up the ark from the house of Obed-edom to Jerusalem (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 15:24 ). </p> <p> (5) The son of Zichri, ruler over the Reubenites in the time of David (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 27:16 ). </p> <p> (6) The son of Dodavahu of Mareshah who prophesied the destruction of the ships which Jehochaphat, king of Judah, built, because he had done so in coöperation with Ahaziah, king of Israel (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 20:35 ). </p> <p> (7) One of the messengers whom Ezra sent to Iddo, the chief at Casiphia, with the request for ministers for the [[Temple]] (&nbsp;Ezra 8:16 ). </p> <p> (8, 9, 10) A priest, a Levite, and one of the sons of Harim who had married non-Israelitish women (&nbsp;Ezra 10:18 , &nbsp;Ezra 10:23 , &nbsp;Ezra 10:11 ). </p> <p> (11) An ancestor of Jesus in the genealogy given by Luke (&nbsp;Luke 3:29 ). </p>