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[usually Eli'ab] (Heb). Eliab', àֶìַéàָá , to whom God is father; Sept. Å᾿ëéÜâ , Vulg. Eliab), the name of seven men. 1. A Reubenite, son of Pallu or Phallu, whose family was one of the principal in the tribe, and father or progenitor of Dathan and Abiram, the leaders in the revolt against Moses (Num_26:8-9; Num_16:1; Num_16:12; Deu_11:6). B.C. post. 1856. Eliab had another son named Nemuel; and the record of Num_26:1-65 is interrupted expressly to admit a statement regarding his sons.
2. A son of Helen, and phylarch of the tribe of Zebulun at the time of the census in the wilderness of Sinai (Num_1:9; Num_2:7; Num_7:24; Num_7:29; Num_10:16). B.C. 1657.
3. An ancestor of Samuel (q.v.) the prophet, being a Kohathite Levite, son of Nahath and father of Jeroham (1Ch_6:27 [12]). B.C. cir. 1250. In the other statements of the genealogy this name appears to be given as ELIHU SEE ELIHU (1Sa_1:1) and ELIEL SEE ELIEL (1Ch_6:34 [19]).4. The eldest son of Jesse and brother of David (1Sa_16:6; 1Sa_17:13; 1Ch_2:13). It was he that made the contemptuous inquiry, by which he sought to screen his own cowardice, when David proposed to fight Goliath, "With whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness?" (1Sa_17:28.) B.C. 1063. His daughter Abihail married her second cousin Rehoboam, and bore him three children (2Ch_11:18); although, taking into account the length of the reigns of David and Solomon, it is difficult not to suspect that the word "daughter" is here used in the less strict sense of granddaughter or descendant. In 1Ch_27:18, we find mention of "ELIHU, of the brethren of David," as "ruler" ( ðָâַéã ) or "prince" ( ùִׂø ) of the tribe of Judah. According to the ancient Hebrew tradition preserved by Jerome (Quaest. Hebr. ad loc.), this Elihu was identical with Eliab. "Brethren" is, however, often used in the sense of kinsman, e.g. 1Ch_12:2.
5. The third of the Gadite heroes who joined David in his stronghold in the wilderness (1Ch_12:9). B.C. 1061;
6. A Levite in the time pf David, who was both a "porter" ( ùׁåֹòֵø , shoer, i.e. a door-keeper) and a musician on the "psaltery" (1Ch_15:18; 1Ch_15:20; 1Ch_16:5). B.C. 1013.
7. Son of Nathanael, one of the forefathers of Judith, and therefore belonging to the tribe of Simeon (Jdt_8:1).