Hebrew word · H469

אֱלִיצָפָן

'elitzafan

Elizaphan

The name is made of ʾēl or ʾēlî ('God' or 'my God') and tsāphan, 'to hide, store up, treasure, keep safe'. It means 'God has hidden', in the sense of sheltered or protected, or 'My God has treasured'.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man of the tribe of Levi living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, first mentioned at Exo.6.22;

son of: Uzziel (H5816);

brother of: Mishael (H4332), Sithri (H5644), Micah (H4318J) and Isshiah (H3449I); also called Elzaphan at Exo.6.22; 1x

§ Elizaphan or Elzaphan = "my God has protected"

1) a Kohathite chief in the wilderness

2) a Zebulunite chief

3) Uzziel's son, Mishael's brother in time of Moses

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

From the study of Exodus 6:22

Range of meaning

The name is made of ʾēl or ʾēlî ('God' or 'my God') and tsāphan, 'to hide, store up, treasure, keep safe'. It means 'God has hidden', in the sense of sheltered or protected, or 'My God has treasured'. The verb tsāphan is the one used when Moses' mother hid her baby for three months (Exodus 2:2–3 uses it), and in Psalm 27:5 and 31:20 for God hiding the faithful.

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB and YLT all have 'Elzaphan', following the shorter Hebrew spelling in this verse. In Numbers 3:30 and 34:25 most versions write 'Elizaphan', following the longer spelling there. English readers may not realise these are the same man, or at least the same name.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 3:30 makes Elizaphan son of Uzziel the nāśîʾ ('chief, leader') of the Kohathite clans. 1 Chronicles 15:8 and 2 Chronicles 29:13 name 'the sons of Elizaphan' as a distinct Levitical family under David and Hezekiah. A different Elizaphan leads the tribe of Zebulun in Numbers 34:25.

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 6:22 וְאֶלְצָפָ֖ן and Elzaphan

    The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

    Here: Uzziel's second son. The name means 'God has hidden', in the sense of treasured or protected. This is the cousin who later becomes chief of all the Kohathite clans (Numbers 3:30) and who helps Mishael remove the bodies in Leviticus 10:4.

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 10:4 אֶלְצָפָ֔ן Elzaphan

    Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come here; carry the bodies of your cousins outside the camp, away from the front of the sanctuary.”

Numbers · 2

  1. Numbers 3:30 אֶלִיצָפָ֖ן [was] Elizaphan

    and the leader of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan son of Uzziel.

  2. Numbers 34:25 אֱלִיצָפָ֖ן Elizaphan

    Eli-zaphan son of Parnach, a leader from the tribe of Zebulun;

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 15:8 אֱלִֽיצָפָ֑ן Elizaphan

    from the Elizaphanites, Shemaiah the chief and 200 of his relatives;

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 29:13 אֱלִ֣יצָפָ֔ן Elizaphan

    Shimri and Jeuel from the Elizaphanites; Zechariah and Mattaniah from the Asaphites;

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.