Eliashib
“Whom God will restore”
Summary
Most notably, the high priest in Nehemiah's time who helped rebuild Jerusalem's wall but compromised by his alliance with Tobiah the Ammonite; also the name of several other Israelites.
☩High Priest in Nehemiah's Time
Eliashib was the high priest in Jerusalem during Nehemiah's governorship. With his fellow priests, he helped rebuild the eastern city wall adjoining the Temple, including the sheep gate which they sanctified and set up its doors. However, Eliashib was 'allied' to Tobiah the Ammonite, one of the chief opponents of Nehemiah's work. This relationship led him to prepare a large chamber in the Temple courts for Tobiah's use—a desecration that provoked Nehemiah's anger when he discovered it. One of Eliashib's grandsons also married the daughter of Sanballat the Horonite, another of Nehemiah's enemies, for which Nehemiah expelled him from the community.
☩Other Men Named Eliashib
A priest named Eliashib was head of the eleventh course of priests in David's time. One of the latest descendants of the royal house of Judah bore this name. Three men named Eliashib—a Levitical singer and two laymen—had married foreign wives and put them away at Ezra's direction.
Related Verses15 mentions
References
- 1.James Orr (ed.), "Eliashib," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. II (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 2.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Eliashib," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).
- 3.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Eliashib," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).