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EKAH (LAMENTATIONS) RABBATI – The Midrash on Lamentations, like Bereshit Rabbah and the Pesiḳta ascribed to Rab Kahana, belongs to the oldest works of the Midrashic literature. It begins with thirty-six consecutive proems forming a separate collection,...
EKATERINOSLAV – See Yekaterinoslav.
EKRON – One of the five cities belonging to the Philistines (Josh. xiii. 3), situated in the maritime plain. It is mentioned in connection with the Ark in I Sam. v. 10, vi. 1-8. Ekron was noted for its sanctuary of Baal-zebub (II Kings...
EL 'ELYON – Biblical Data: The most high God (Gen. xix. 18-20, 22, A. V.; R. V. "God most high"), as whose priest Melchizedek blesses Abraham (compare "Urusalem," in the El-Amarna tablets; Schrader, "K. B." iv. 180, 25 et seq.; 183, 14;...
EL MALE RAḤAMIN – See Hazkarat Neshamot.
EL NORA 'ALILAH – Ahymn attributed to Moses ibn Ezra, and chanted, in the Sephardic liturgy, before the commencement of the "Ne'ilah" or closing service of the Day of Atonement. It is sung to spirited tunes by English-speaking, Dutch, and Italian...
EL SHADDAI – See God.
ELA (HELA, ILAA, ILAI, ILI, LA, LEIA, YELA) – Builder of the Law." Palestinian scholar of the third amoraic generation (third and fourth centuries). In one form or another, his name frequently appears in both Yerushalmi and Babli, mostly in the field of the Halakah. He was...
ELADAH – Son of Tahath and father of Tahath, found in the genealogical list of Ephraim in I Chron. vii. 20, but not mentioned in the list in Num. xxvi. He met his death in a raid upon Gath.E. G. H. G. B. L.
ELAH – King of Israel; son of Baasha, who seized the throne of northern Israel after the murder of Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, its first king. Before he had reigned two years a conspiracy was organized against him within his corrupt...
ELAH, THE VALLEY OF – Scene of the combat between David and Goliath (I Sam. xvii. 2, xxi. 9). It is identified with the fertile Wadi al-Sanṭ, rich in oaks, terebinths, and acacias. The older as well as the newer name refers to the trees growing in...
ELAM – The great plain north of the Persian Gulf and east of the lower Tigris and the mountainous districts by which it is enclosed on the east and north. It is the "Elamtu" of the Babylonians and Assyrians and the "Elymais" of the...
EL'ASAH – Amora, whose epoch is uncertain; known chiefly on account of a controversy which he had with a certain Philippus (or a philosopher). The latter remarked: "Does not the prophet say concerning Edom (Mal. i. 4), 'They shall build,...
ELATH – Idumean port at the northern end of the Ælanitic Gulf, the later Aila. According to the Old Testament, the name of the place is also Elparan. In Deut. ii. 8 it is mentioned with Eziongeber (comp. I Kings ix. 26; II Chron. viii....
ELBOGEN, ISMAR – German scholar; born at Schildberg Sept. 1, 1874. Educated by his uncle, Jacob Levy, author of the "Neuhebräisches Wörterbuch," and then at the gymnasium and the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau, he received his doctor's...
ELCESAITES – A Judæo-Christian sect of Gnostic tendencies, whose period of influence extended from about 100 to 400. The Church Fathers, who alone mention the sect, derive the name from the alleged founder—'Hλξαί (Epiphanius),' Hλχασΐ...
ELCHE – City in the former kingdom of Valencia. When Don Jaime I. of Aragon took the city from the Moors, he gave houses and land to the Jews he found there, as he did to the other Jews of Valencia, and appointed a special street for...
ELDAD BEN MAHLI HA-DANI – Merchant and traveler of the ninth century. He professed to have been a citizen of an independent Jewish state in eastern Africa, inhabited by the tribes of Dan (hence his name, "ha-Dani" = "the Danite"), Asher, Gad, and...
ELDAD AND MEDAD – Two men who prophesied in the camp during the wanderings in the wilderness (Num. xi. 26-29). According to an old rabbinical tradition, they predicted the war with Gog and Magog. "The king from the land of Magog will unite all...
ELDER – In primitive times age was a necessary condition of authority. Not only among the ancient Jews, but also among other nations of antiquity, the elders of the nation or of the clan constituted the official class. The institution...
ELDER, REBELLIOUS – An elder who defies the authoritative rabbinic interpretation of the Mosaic Law. In the period when the Sanhedrin flourished this was a capital offense, punishable by strangulation (Sanh. xi. 1). This is based on Deut. xvii....
ELEAD – A descendant of Ephraim, found in the genealogical list in I Chron. vii. 21. He joined a party of raiders to take away the flocks of Gath, and was killed by the Gittites. The name does not appear in the genealogical list in...
ELEALAH – Town of the Moabite plateau, conquered by Gad and Reuben and rebuilt by the latter (Num. xxx ii. 3, 37). It is mentioned, together with the town of Heshbon, in the prophecies concerning Moab (Isa. xvi. 9). Elealah was still...
ELEAZAR – 1. High priest; third son of Aaron. After his two elder brothers, Nadab and Abihu, had suffered death for offering strange fire before the Lord, Eleazar became his father's chief assistant, with the title "prince of the princes...
ELEAZAR I. (LAZAR) (Eleazar b. Shammua') – Mishnaic teacher of the fourth generation, frequently cited in rabbinic writings without his patronymic (Ab. iv. 12; Giṭ. iii. 8, incorrectly "Eliezer"; compare Gem. Giṭ. 31b; Yer. Giṭ. iii. 45a, Mishnah and Gem.). He was of...

EKAH (LAMENTATIONS) RABBATI – The Midrash on Lamentations, like Bereshit Rabbah and the Pesiḳta ascribed to Rab Kahana, belongs to the oldest works of the Midrashic literature. It begins with thirty-six consecutive proems forming a separate collection,...

EKATERINOSLAV – See Yekaterinoslav.

EKRON – One of the five cities belonging to the Philistines (Josh. xiii. 3), situated in the maritime plain. It is mentioned in connection with the Ark in I Sam. v. 10, vi. 1-8. Ekron was noted for its sanctuary of Baal-zebub (II Kings...

EL 'ELYON – Biblical Data: The most high God (Gen. xix. 18-20, 22, A. V.; R. V. "God most high"), as whose priest Melchizedek blesses Abraham (compare "Urusalem," in the El-Amarna tablets; Schrader, "K. B." iv. 180, 25 et seq.; 183, 14;...

EL MALE RAḤAMIN – See Hazkarat Neshamot.

EL NORA 'ALILAH – Ahymn attributed to Moses ibn Ezra, and chanted, in the Sephardic liturgy, before the commencement of the "Ne'ilah" or closing service of the Day of Atonement. It is sung to spirited tunes by English-speaking, Dutch, and Italian...

EL SHADDAI – See God.

ELA (HELA, ILAA, ILAI, ILI, LA, LEIA, YELA) – Builder of the Law." Palestinian scholar of the third amoraic generation (third and fourth centuries). In one form or another, his name frequently appears in both Yerushalmi and Babli, mostly in the field of the Halakah. He was...

ELADAH – Son of Tahath and father of Tahath, found in the genealogical list of Ephraim in I Chron. vii. 20, but not mentioned in the list in Num. xxvi. He met his death in a raid upon Gath.E. G. H. G. B. L.

ELAH – King of Israel; son of Baasha, who seized the throne of northern Israel after the murder of Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, its first king. Before he had reigned two years a conspiracy was organized against him within his corrupt...

ELAH, THE VALLEY OF – Scene of the combat between David and Goliath (I Sam. xvii. 2, xxi. 9). It is identified with the fertile Wadi al-Sanṭ, rich in oaks, terebinths, and acacias. The older as well as the newer name refers to the trees growing in...

ELAM – The great plain north of the Persian Gulf and east of the lower Tigris and the mountainous districts by which it is enclosed on the east and north. It is the "Elamtu" of the Babylonians and Assyrians and the "Elymais" of the...

EL'ASAH – Amora, whose epoch is uncertain; known chiefly on account of a controversy which he had with a certain Philippus (or a philosopher). The latter remarked: "Does not the prophet say concerning Edom (Mal. i. 4), 'They shall build,...

ELATH – Idumean port at the northern end of the Ælanitic Gulf, the later Aila. According to the Old Testament, the name of the place is also Elparan. In Deut. ii. 8 it is mentioned with Eziongeber (comp. I Kings ix. 26; II Chron. viii....

ELBOGEN, ISMAR – German scholar; born at Schildberg Sept. 1, 1874. Educated by his uncle, Jacob Levy, author of the "Neuhebräisches Wörterbuch," and then at the gymnasium and the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau, he received his doctor's...

ELCESAITES – A Judæo-Christian sect of Gnostic tendencies, whose period of influence extended from about 100 to 400. The Church Fathers, who alone mention the sect, derive the name from the alleged founder—'Hλξαί (Epiphanius),' Hλχασΐ...

ELCHE – City in the former kingdom of Valencia. When Don Jaime I. of Aragon took the city from the Moors, he gave houses and land to the Jews he found there, as he did to the other Jews of Valencia, and appointed a special street for...

ELDAD BEN MAHLI HA-DANI – Merchant and traveler of the ninth century. He professed to have been a citizen of an independent Jewish state in eastern Africa, inhabited by the tribes of Dan (hence his name, "ha-Dani" = "the Danite"), Asher, Gad, and...

ELDAD AND MEDAD – Two men who prophesied in the camp during the wanderings in the wilderness (Num. xi. 26-29). According to an old rabbinical tradition, they predicted the war with Gog and Magog. "The king from the land of Magog will unite all...

ELDER – In primitive times age was a necessary condition of authority. Not only among the ancient Jews, but also among other nations of antiquity, the elders of the nation or of the clan constituted the official class. The institution...

ELDER, REBELLIOUS – An elder who defies the authoritative rabbinic interpretation of the Mosaic Law. In the period when the Sanhedrin flourished this was a capital offense, punishable by strangulation (Sanh. xi. 1). This is based on Deut. xvii....

ELEAD – A descendant of Ephraim, found in the genealogical list in I Chron. vii. 21. He joined a party of raiders to take away the flocks of Gath, and was killed by the Gittites. The name does not appear in the genealogical list in...

ELEALAH – Town of the Moabite plateau, conquered by Gad and Reuben and rebuilt by the latter (Num. xxx ii. 3, 37). It is mentioned, together with the town of Heshbon, in the prophecies concerning Moab (Isa. xvi. 9). Elealah was still...

ELEAZAR – 1. High priest; third son of Aaron. After his two elder brothers, Nadab and Abihu, had suffered death for offering strange fire before the Lord, Eleazar became his father's chief assistant, with the title "prince of the princes...

ELEAZAR I. (LAZAR) (Eleazar b. Shammua') – Mishnaic teacher of the fourth generation, frequently cited in rabbinic writings without his patronymic (Ab. iv. 12; Giṭ. iii. 8, incorrectly "Eliezer"; compare Gem. Giṭ. 31b; Yer. Giṭ. iii. 45a, Mishnah and Gem.). He was of...