Hebrew word · H446
אֱלִיאָב
'eli'av
Eliab
A personal name built from ʾel ("God") and ʾav ("father"), meaning "my God is father" or "God is father". Several different men in the Hebrew Bible bear it: this Zebulunite leader, a Reubenite (Num 16:1), David's eldest brother (1 Sam 16:6), and others.
Appears 21 times in 20 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
A man of the tribe of Judah living at the time of United Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Sa.16.6;
son of: Jesse (H3448);
brother of: David (H1732), Abinadab (H0041I), Shimeah (H8093), Nethanel (H5417H), Raddai (H7288), Ozem (H0684), Zeruiah (H6870), Abigail (H0026H)(?) and Elihu (H0453J);
father of: Abihail (H0032J)
§ Eliab = "my God is father" or "God is father"
1) son of Helon, leader of Zebulun in the wilderness
2) a Reubenite chief, father of Dathan and Abiram
3) David's oldest brother
4) a Levite musician
5) a Gadite warrior for David
6) a Kohathite
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
A personal name built from ʾel ("God") and ʾav ("father"), meaning "my God is father" or "God is father". Several different men in the Hebrew Bible bear it: this Zebulunite leader, a Reubenite (Num 16:1), David's eldest brother (1 Sam 16:6), and others.
- Against the English
Translations transliterate it as "Eliab". English readers can miss that the name is a short confession. Names that include "God" (called theophoric names) were the normal way to state a family's devotion.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Names of the form "(my) god is father" are common across the ancient Near East, for example Akkadian Ilu-abī and Amorite Abi-El. Within this list the El-names cluster strikingly: Elizur, Shelumiel, Nethanel, Eliab, Elishama, Gamaliel, Pagiel, Eliasaph. None contains the divine name YHWH.
Where it appears
Numbers · 9
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Numbers 1:9 אֱלִיאָ֖ב Eliab
from Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon;
Here: The name of Zebulun's appointed leader. It means "my God is father" or "God is father", a name that is also a statement of trust. He is the representative who stands beside Moses and Aaron for the count.
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Numbers 2:7 אֱלִיאָ֖ב [was] Eliab
Next will be the tribe of Zebulun. The leader of the Zebulunites is Eliab son of Helon,
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Numbers 7:24 אֱלִיאָ֖ב Eliab
On the third day Eliab son of Helon, the leader of the Zebulunites, drew near.
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Numbers 7:29 אֱלִיאָ֖ב Eliab
and a peace offering of two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Eliab son of Helon.
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Numbers 10:16 אֱלִיאָ֖ב Eliab
and Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the tribe of Zebulun.
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Numbers 16:1 אֱלִיאָ֛ב Eliab
Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath son of Levi, along with some Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—conducted
Here: The father of Dathan and Abiram, a son of Pallu son of Reuben (Numbers 26:8–9). The name means "my God is father."
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Numbers 16:12 אֱלִיאָ֑ב Eliab
Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come!
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Numbers 26:8 אֱלִיאָֽב׃ Eliab
Now the son of Pallu was Eliab,
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Numbers 26:9 אֱלִיאָ֔ב Eliab
and the sons of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. It was Dathan and Abiram, chosen by the congregation, who rebelled against Moses and Aaron with the followers of Korah who rebelled against the LORD.
Deuteronomy · 1
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Deuteronomy 11:6 אֱלִיאָב֮ Eliab
and what He did in the midst of all the Israelites to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing that belonged to them.
1 Samuel · 4
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1 Samuel 16:6 אֱלִיאָ֑ב Eliab
When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Surely here before the LORD is His anointed.”
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1 Samuel 17:13 אֱלִיאָ֣ב [was] Eliab
The three older sons of Jesse had followed Saul into battle: The firstborn was Eliab, the second was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah.
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1 Samuel 17:28 אֱלִיאָב֙ אֱלִיאָ֨ב Eliab
Now when David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, his anger burned against David. “Why have you come down here?” he asked. “And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and wickedness of heart—you have come down to see the battle!”
Here: Means "My God is father." He is the son Samuel thought must be the chosen one because of his height and looks, and whom God rejected (16:6–7). A reader who remembers that scene hears his name with that history attached.
1 Chronicles · 6
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1 Chronicles 2:13 אֱלִיאָ֑ב Eliab
Jesse was the father of Eliab his firstborn; Abinadab was born second, Shimea third,
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1 Chronicles 6:27 אֱלִיאָ֥ב Eliab
Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, and Elkanah his son.
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1 Chronicles 12:9 אֱלִיאָ֖ב Eliab
Ezer the chief, Obadiah the second in command, Eliab the third,
Here: 'My God is father'. Several men in the Old Testament have this name, including David's eldest brother. This Gadite is a different person.
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1 Chronicles 15:18 אֱלִיאָ֡ב Eliab
and with them their brothers next in rank: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel.
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1 Chronicles 15:20 וֶֽאֱלִיאָ֔ב and Eliab
Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play the harps according to Alamoth.
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1 Chronicles 16:5 וֶאֱלִיאָ֡ב and Eliab
Asaph was the chief, Zechariah was second, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel. They were to play the harps and lyres, while Asaph sounded the cymbals
2 Chronicles · 1
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2 Chronicles 11:18 אֱלִיאָ֖ב Eliab
And Rehoboam married Mahalath, who was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.