Eleazar

Eleazar (or Elazar), (אֶלְעָזָר "[My] God has helped", Standard Hebrew Elʿazar, Tiberian Hebrew ʾElʿāzār) refers to a number of persons in the Hebrew Bible and in Jewish history:

A son of Aaron, and a Levite priest. His wife, a daughter of Putiel, bore him Phinehas. After the death of Nadab and Abihu, (Lev. 10:12; Num. 3:4) he was appointed to the charge of the sanctuary. He fulfilled a number of functions over the course of the Wilderness wanderings, from creating the plating to the altar out of the firepans of Korah's assembly (Numbers, chap. 17) to performing the ritual of the red heifer (Numbers, chap. 19). On Mount Hor he was clothed with the sacred vestments, which Moses took from off his father Aaron and put upon him as successor to his father in the high priest's office, which he held for more than twenty years. (Num. 20:25-29) He took part with Moses in numbering the people, (26:3, 4) and assisted at the inauguration of Joshua. He assisted in the distribution of the land after the conquest. (Josh. 14:1) When he died, "they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son." (Josh. 24:33). The high-priesthood remained in his family till the time of Eli, into whose family it passed, till it was restored to the family of Eleazar in the person of Zadok. (1 Sam. 2:35; comp. 1 Kings 2:27)

An inhabitant of Kirjath-jearim who was "sanctified" to take charge of the ark, while it remained in the house of his father Abinadab. (1 Sam. 7:1, 2; comp. Num. 3:31; 4:15)

The son of Dodo the Ahohite, of the tribe of Benjamin, one of the three most eminent of David's thirty-seven heroes, (1 Chr. 11:12) who broke through the Philistine host and brought him water from the well of Bethlehem. (2 Sam. 23:9, 16)

A son of Phinehas associated with the priests in taking charge of the sacred vessels brought back to Jerusalem after the Babylonian Exile. (Ezra 8:33)

A son of Mattathias and the younger brother of Judas Maccabeus. He was killed at the Battle of Beth-zechariah during the Maccabean revolt. (1 Macc. 6:43-46)

Eleazar ben Azaria was the Nasi for a short time, when Raban Gamliel was removed from his position. According to the lore, he was eighteen when he was appointed.

Eleazar ben Simon was the name of one of the leaders of Jewish resistance against the Roman conquest, Eleazar ben Simon (see Siege of Jerusalem) in AD 70, as well as the leader of the Jewish resistance at Masada in AD 73, Eleazar ben Ya'ir. Whether or not these two are the same person is unclear.

"Eleazar" was the name assumed by Bishop Bodo who converted to Judaism in the 9th century.

"Elazar" is the name of a small town in Gush Etzion, Israel. It is located several miles outside Jerusalem.

See also