Eliezer (son of Dodavah)

Biblical Record

Eliezer appears only once in Scripture, in 2 Chronicles 20:37. The Bible records only two details about him: he came from Mareshah, a town in the western lowlands of Judah, and his father was named Dodavah. Nothing else about his life is recorded.

According to 2 Chronicles 20:35-36, King Jehoshaphat of Judah joined with King Ahaziah of the northern kingdom of Israel, who did wickedly, to build ships at Ezion-geber to go to Tarshish. Eliezer then prophesied against him:

• "Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works" (2 Chronicles 20:37, KJV)

The text records that, in fulfillment of the prophecy, the ships were broken and were not able to go to Tarshish. This verse concludes the account of Jehoshaphat's reign.

Significance in Scripture

Second Chronicles repeatedly describes a prophet appearing to rebuke a king of Judah for allying with foreign nations or with the northern kingdom of Israel. One example is the rebuke delivered by Jehu the son of Hanani after Jehoshaphat helped Ahab (2 Chronicles 19:2). Eliezer's prophecy belongs to the same pattern. These episodes reflect the Chronicler's view that an undertaking that relies on human strength rather than on God will ultimately fail.

The name Eliezer is understood to mean "God is help," and Exodus 18:4 explains the same name in this sense. The New Testament does not mention this figure.

Interpretation and Debate

The parallel account in 1 Kings 22:48-49 differs somewhat. There, Jehoshaphat built ships to go to Ophir for gold, but they were broken at Ezion-geber; afterward, when Ahaziah proposed that his servants sail with Jehoshaphat's, Jehoshaphat refused. Eliezer is not named. Interpreters differ on how to account for these differences.

• One view harmonizes the two accounts, holding that Jehoshaphat first built the ships jointly with Ahaziah and then, after the ships were wrecked, refused a renewed proposal.
• Another view holds that the two books record the same event with different emphases and from different sources.

Regarding the difference between ships going "to Tarshish" and ships going "to Ophir," some interpreters understand "ships of Tarshish" not as a reference to an actual destination but as a term for a class of large ocean-going vessels. No widely known tradition outside the biblical text adds to the account of Eliezer's life.

In Korean Churches

In Korean Protestant churches, Eliezer is rarely the sole subject of a sermon. When he is mentioned, it is usually in sermons on the life of Jehoshaphat or in expositions of 2 Chronicles, where he serves as an example warning against misguided alliances.

Among Korean believers, the name Eliezer usually calls to mind Eliezer of Damascus, mentioned as Abraham's heir (Genesis 15:2). Several other biblical figures bear the same name, including Moses' son Eliezer (Exodus 18:4), and this prophet should be distinguished from them.