Eli-Ezer

אליעזר


Genesis 15:2 names him as Av-Raham's chief steward, deemed to be his heir for lack of a natural son, until the births of Yishma-El (Ishmael) and then Yitschak (Isaac); he was a slave born in Av-Raham's house, though Av-Raham refers to him as Eli-Ezer of Damasek (Damascus).

Genesis 24 has this same Eli-Ezer being sent to Padan Aram to bring a wife for Yitschak; in exchange for his success in this mission he was granted his freedom. Previously, as noted above, when Av-Raham was son-less, he was deemed the heir; now his best hope in life is his freedom, but he can only win it by securing the inheritance for Yitschak through his off-spring. What if he failed to find a wife for Yitschak? The way the story of his arrival in Padan Aram is told – see the commentary – suggests his freedom matters to him far more than the finding of the "right" wife.

Exodus 18:4 has an Eli-Ezer (אֱלִיעֶזֶר) who is a son of Mosheh. Aharon, Mosheh's brother, will have a son named El-Azar (אֶלְעָזָר), which is essentially the same name (Aharon's wife, incidentally, was named Eli-Sheva, whence the English name Elizabeth).

1 Chronicles 7:8 has a son of Becher and grandson of Bin-Yamin named Eli-Ezer.

1 Chronicles 27:16 has a son of Zichri named Eli-Ezer, a Beney Re'u-Ven who "was one of the principal officers in charge of Yisra-El" under King David.

1 Chronicles 15:24 has a priest named Eli-Ezer, who sounded the shofar in front of the Ark in the time of David.

2 Chronicles 20:37 has a son of Dodavahu (דודוהו) of Mareshah named Eli-Ezer, who denounced Yehoshaphat with a prophecy. Dodavahu is of course a deliberate rabbinical error, one made very commonly, the replacement of Yud (י) by Vav (ו) to disguise the true meaning of the name - or should we allow it to be accidental, for after all the Vav could easily be a Yud with its tail mis-read as elongated. Either way Doda-Yahu (דודיהו) should be self-explanatory to anyone who has read this work this far; a dialect variation of Yedid-Yah (יְדִידְיָהּ), which was King David's full name, as well as Shelomoh's (שְׁלֹמֹה - Solomon's) birth-name (2 Samuel 12:24/25).

Ezra 8:16 has him as one of the men sent by Ezra to Iddo to recruit priests.

Ezra 10:18 names him as one of those who had married foreign wives in exile; probably the same man as in 8:16.

Eli-Ezer means "helper of El", which again links Av-Raham to the El cult.




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