Eliezer (son of Dodavah): Edit history

Biblical Record

Eliezer appears only once, in 2 Chronicles 20:37. The Bible gives only two details about him: he came from Mareshah, a town in the western lowlands of Judah, and his father's name was 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 evil, to build ships at Ezion-geber to go to Tarshish. Eliezer then came forward and prophesied:

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

The text records that, as he had prophesied, the ships were wrecked and were unable to go to Tarshish. This verse concludes the account of Jehoshaphat.

Significance in Scripture

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

The name Eliezer is generally 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 of the same event in 1 Kings 22:48-49 differs somewhat. There, Jehoshaphat built ships to go to Ophir for gold, but they were wrecked at Ezion-geber; afterward, when Ahaziah proposed sending ships together, Jehoshaphat refused. Eliezer's name does not appear. Interpreters differ on how to account for this difference.

• One view harmonizes the two accounts by holding that Jehoshaphat initially built the ships jointly with Ahaziah but, 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 to go to Tarshish" and "ships to go 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 traditions outside the biblical text add to the account of Eliezer's life.

In the Korean Church

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.

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