2. The son of Parnach and the chieftain of the sons of Zebulun who was among those appointed at Jehovah’s direction to divide the Promised Land into inheritance portions.—Num. 34:25.

ELIZUR

(E·liʹzur) [God is a rock].

Son of Shedeur of the tribe of Reuben; one of the twelve chieftains who assisted Moses and Aaron in numbering the sons of Israel. (Num. 1:1-3, 5, 17; 2:10; 10:18) In addition to sharing in the group presentation made by the chieftains after the setting up of the tabernacle, Elizur represented his tribe individually as its chieftain in presenting an offering on the fourth day for the inauguration of the altar.—Num. 7:1, 2, 10, 30-35.

ELKANAH

(El·kaʹnah) [God has created or taken possession].

1. A Levite identified along with Assir and Abiasaph as sons of the rebellious Korah, but who did not share the fate of their father. (Ex. 6:24; Num. 26:11) He is possibly the Elkanah mentioned in 1 Chronicles 6:23.

2. The second of four Levite Kohathites named Elkanah and listed in Chronicles. He is identified as the father of Amasai and Ahimoth, and appears to have been the son of Joel.—1 Chron. 6:25, 36.

3. The third of the above Levites; seemingly the son of Mahath.—1 Chron. 6:26, 35.

4. The son of Jeroham and the father of Samuel the prophet, as well as of other sons and daughters. Elkanah was a resident of Ramah of the mountainous region of Ephraim. Hence he is called an Ephraimite, although genealogically he was a Levite. (1 Sam. 1:1; 1 Chron. 6:27, 33, 34) It was Elkanah’s practice to go from year to year to Shiloh “to prostrate himself and to sacrifice to Jehovah.” He had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Although Hannah continued barren, Elkanah loved her and tried to console her for being barren. Later, in answer to Hannah’s prayer, Jehovah blessed them with the birth of Samuel, and still later with three sons and two daughters.—1 Sam. 1:2, 3, 5, 8, 19; 2:21.

5. A Levite ancestor of a certain Berechiah.—1 Chron. 9:16.

6. One of the Korahites who were apparently residing in the territory of Benjamin and who “came to David at Ziklag while he was still under restrictions because of Saul.”—1 Chron. 12:1, 2, 6.

7. One of the gatekeepers for the Ark at the time David had it transferred to Jerusalem from the house of Obed-edom; possibly the same as No. 6.—1 Chron. 15:23, 25.

8. An official who occupied a position next to King Ahaz of Judah and who was slain by Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, when Pekah the king of Israel invaded Judah.—2 Chron. 28:6, 7.

ELKOSHITE

(Elʹkosh·ite).

A resident of Elkosh. “Elkoshite” is applied only to the prophet Nahum. (Nah. 1:1) Some would place Elkosh in Galilee; however, Nahum may have been in Judah at the time of its composition. (Vs. 15) If so, this would make the suggested identity with Judean site Beit Jibrin, four miles (6.4 kilometers) NE of Lachish, the most likely proposal. The identification, however, remains tentative.

ELLASAR

(El·laʹsar) [oak].

A kingdom or city over which Arioch reigned in the time of Abraham and Lot. (Gen. 14:1) Many scholars once identified it with the ancient Chaldean town of Larsa, situated in Lower Mesopotamia on the Euphrates’ E bank, nearly midway between Erech and Ur of the Chaldees. This site, about twenty-eight miles (c. 45 kilometers) NE of Ur, is now called Senkereh. Ancient Larsa originally had its own rulers, but it came under Babylonian control after the days of Hammurabi.

The identification of Ellasar with Larsa resulted from reading the name of one of its kings in cuneiform inscriptions as Eri-Aku, some associating this name with Arioch. However, the name “Eri-Aku” is now considered to be more accurately read as “Warad-Sin.” As it is, many scholars now doubt that Ellasar is to be identified with ancient Larsa (the modern Senkereh) and some suggest that Ellasar was Ilanzura, a northern Mesopotamian town to which the Mari texts refer. This location is quite some distance NW of Larsa and is between Carchemish and Haran. Letters of Zimri-lim, a king of Mari who is said to have ruled about 1700 B.C.E., speak of a certain Arriyuk, perhaps a vassal. But linking him with the Biblical Arioch seems unsuitable because Arioch was living in Abraham’s day and the patriarch had an encounter with him much earlier, during the twentieth century B.C.E. Hence, positive identification of ancient Ellasar with a known present-day site still poses a problem for researchers.

King Arioch of Ellasar joined forces with Kings Amraphel of Shinar, Chedorlaomer of Elam and Tidal of Goiim in warring against the kings of the rebelling city-states of the Low Plain of Siddim, or the Salt Sea, that is, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Bela (Zoar). The rebels were defeated and Lot, then dwelling at Sodom, was taken captive and carried off toward the N. However, Abram (Abraham), with Mamre, Aner and Eshcol as his confederates, overtook the four kings’ combined forces at Dan. There he put them to flight, rescuing Lot and the people and recovering the goods.—Gen. 14:1-16, 24.

ELMADAM

(El·maʹdam).

An ancestor of Jesus’ earthly mother Mary.—Luke 3:28.

ELNAAM

(Elʹna·am) [God is pleasantness].

The father of Jeribai and Joshaviah, two mighty men of David’s military forces.—1 Chron. 11:46.

ELNATHAN

(El·naʹthan) [God has given].

1. The father of King Jehoiachin’s mother Nehushta. (2 Ki. 24:8) Likely he is the Elnathan identified as the “son of Achbor” and whom King Jehoiakim sent down to Egypt to bring back the prophet Urijah. (Jer. 26:22, 23) Interestingly, one of the Lachish letters dating from this period mentions the name Elnathan, saying: “The commander of the host, Coniah son of Elnathan, hath come down in order to go into Egypt.”

2, 3, 4. Three men bearing the name Elnathan are mentioned in the book of Ezra. Two are designated as “head ones” and the other as an instructor. At the river Ahava, before making the trip to Jerusalem, Ezra gave them a command to appeal to Iddo and the Nethinim at Casiphia to provide from their number ministers for the house of God, to which the Levites and the Nethinim responded.—Ezra 8:15-20.

ELOHIM

(El·o·himʹ) [Heb., ʼelo·himʹ (gods), plural of ʼeloʹah (god)].

This Hebrew word is of uncertain derivation, but it is generally thought to be from a root meaning “to be strong.” ʼElo·himʹ is the plural of ʼeloʹah, sometimes in the numerical sense (Gen. 31:30, 32; 35:2), but more often it signifies the plural of majesty, dignity or excellence, ʼElo·himʹ is used in the Scriptures with reference to Jehovah himself, to angels, to idol gods (singular and plural) and to men.—Gen. 1:1; Ps. 8:5, NW, 1950 ed., ftn.; Judg. 16:23; Ex. 20:23; Ps. 82:6.

JEHOVAH

When applying to Jehovah, ʼElo·himʹ is used in the sense of majesty, dignity or excellence, and takes the singular verb, adjective and pronoun. At Psalm 7:9 it is used with an adjective in the singular number: ʼElo·himʹ tsad·diqʹ, ‘righteous God.’ On this Gesenius-Kautzsch’s Hebrew Grammar, 1949 edition, pages 398, 399, paragraph “g,” says: “The pluralis excellentiae or maiestatis, as has been remarked above, is properly a variety of the abstract plural, since it sums up the several characteristics belonging to the idea, besides