Eliasaph

Biblical Record

The name Eliasaph appears only in the Book of Numbers in the Old Testament. Two men bear this name.

Chief of the Tribe of Gad

Eliasaph the son of Deuel was the chief (the head who represented a tribe or clan) of the tribe of Gad, one of the twelve tribes of Israel.

• Numbers 1:14 — When Moses and Aaron took the census in the wilderness of Sinai, he is named as the representative of Gad among the chiefs appointed, one from each tribe.
• Numbers 2:14 — In the record of the arrangement of the camp, the tribe of Gad belongs to the camp of Reuben, which encamps on the south side of the tabernacle, and Eliasaph is named as the captain of the children of Gad.
• Numbers 7:42–47 — At the dedication of the tabernacle, the twelve chiefs presented their offerings one per day, and Eliasaph presented his on the sixth day. His offering consisted of a silver charger, a silver bowl, and a golden spoon, together with animals for the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the peace offerings; it was identical to the offerings of the other chiefs.
• Numbers 10:20 — When Israel set out from the wilderness of Sinai, Eliasaph led the host of the tribe of Gad.

Chief of the Gershonite Clan

Eliasaph the son of Lael was the chief of the Gershonite clan among the Levites (Numbers 3:24). The Gershonites encamped behind the tabernacle on the west side and had charge of the tabernacle, the tent, its covering, and the hangings (Numbers 3:23–26). The same chapter also names Elizaphan, chief of the Kohathite clan, and Zuriel, chief of the Merarite clan.

Scripture records nothing of either man's life beyond these passages.

Significance in the Bible

The name is interpreted to mean "God has added." Eliasaph of the tribe of Gad appears in lists documenting how the community of Israel was organized early in the forty years in the wilderness—the census, the arrangement of the camp, the dedication of the tabernacle, and the order of march. His name is therefore significant less for any personal story than as evidence of a community that moved in an orderly fashion, with a representative appointed for each tribe. The New Testament mentions neither Eliasaph.

Interpretation and Issues

The father of Eliasaph of the tribe of Gad is called "Reuel" only in Numbers 2:14; elsewhere he is called "Deuel." The Hebrew letters dalet (ד, d) and resh (ר, r) are similar in shape, and a widely known view holds that the two letters were interchanged in the course of copying. The Korean Revised Version likewise preserves this difference, rendering the name as Reuel only in 2:14. Because Eliasaph of the tribe of Gad and Eliasaph the Gershonite have different fathers and belong to different tribes, they are regarded as two different people.

In the Korean Church

Sermons or hymns devoted specifically to Eliasaph are rare. His name usually comes up when Numbers is read during reading through the Bible, and he is mentioned mainly as one of the twelve chiefs in expositions of the chiefs' offerings in Numbers 7.