- published: 28 Jul 2015
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For the mathematician and Tamil activist see C.J. Eliezer; for the AI researcher and writer on rationality see Eliezer Yudkowsky; for the Levite priest of the Hebrew Bible, see Eleazar. For the great rabbi from the Second Commonwealth period, see Eliezer ben Hurcanus.
Eliezer (Hebrew: אֱלִיעֶזֶר, Modern Eli'ezer Tiberian ʼĔlîʻézer, "Help/Court of my God") was the name of at least three different individuals in the Bible.
Eliezer was Moses and Zipporah's second son. His name means "God is help" in Hebrew.
The verse in the Book of Exodus (18:4) states:
Both Gershom and Eliezer were born during the time Moses had taken refuge in Midian and had married Jethro's daughter Zipporah.
There is also an Eliezer known as Eliezer of Damascus (Hebrew: דַּמֶּשֶׂק אֱלִיעֶזֶר, Modern Damméseq Eliʿézer Tiberian Damméśeq ʾĔlîʿézer), son of Nimrod, and head of the patriarch Abraham's household mentioned in the Book of Genesis (15:2).
There is an interpretation in Bereshit Rabbah (43:2), cited by Rashi, that Eliezer went alone with Abraham to rescue Lot, with the reference to "his initiates" stated to be 318 in number (Lech-Lecha 14:14) being the numerical value of Eliezer's name in Hebrew, interpreted in tractate Nedarim (32a) as Abraham not wishing to rely on a miracle by taking only one individual. According to most interpretations, the unnamed "...slave, the elder of the household, who controlled all that was his" in Chayei Sarah 24:2 who acted as a marriage broker (sharchan) for Isaac was this Eliezer.
Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda (Hebrew: אליעזר בן־יהודה ; 7 January 1858 – 16 December 1922) was a Litvak lexicographer and newspaper editor. He was the driving spirit behind the revival of the Hebrew language in the modern era.
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda was born Eliezer Yitzhak Perlman (Yiddish אליעזר יצחק פערלמאן), in Luzhki (Belarusian Лужкі (Lužki), Polish Łużki), Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire (now Vitsebsk Voblast, Belarus). He attended cheder where he studied Hebrew and the Bible from the age of three, as was customary among the Jews of Eastern Europe. By the age of twelve, he had read large portions of the Torah, Mishna, and Talmud. His parents hoped he would become a rabbi, and sent him to a yeshiva. There, he continued to study ancient Hebrew and was also exposed to the Hebrew of the enlightenment, including secular writings. Later, he learned French, German, and Russian, and was sent to Dünaburg for more education. Reading the Hebrew language newspaper HaShahar, he became acquainted with Zionism and concluded that the revival of Hebrew language in the Land of Israel could unite all Jews worldwide.