אֶלְדָּד
el.dad
Eldad
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Eldad: A Minor Biblical Figure Eldad appears in the Hebrew Bible only twice, making him an extremely minor character whose significance lies primarily in a single narrative episode. The name itself is a proper noun—a personal name rather than a common word with varied meanings. With only two occurrences across the entire biblical text, Eldad's presence is limited and his role appears confined to one specific context or story. The minimal frequency of this name in the biblical corpus suggests that Eldad was not a prominent or recurring figure in Israelite tradition. Unlike major patriarchs, judges, or kings who appear repeatedly throughout multiple books and narratives, Eldad's fleeting presence indicates he was either a secondary character in a localized episode or a figure remembered only for a particular moment in biblical history. His two mentions may represent all that was preserved or considered significant enough to record in the biblical text. Without additional contextual data from the lexicon entry—such as the specific biblical passages where Eldad appears or details about his role—we can conclude only that he was a named individual referenced twice in Scripture. His historical or theological importance, if any, would need to be determined by examining those two specific occurrences themselves rather than from the frequency or pattern of his name's usage.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
2 total occurrences across the text
But two men remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad; and the Spirit rested on them. They were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp.
Numbers 11:27A young man ran, and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”