LlTERATlTRB. — RobinsOQ, BRP\ Stanley, Sinai and Pal.) Thomson, Land and Book ; Smith, UUt. Geog. ; Murray's and Bsdeker'a Guide Books. Q. M. MaCKIE.
EBED (njj;).— 1. The father of Gaal, who headed the rebellion against Abimelech (Jg Q^-"). 2. One of those who returned from Babylon with Ezra (Ezr 8«), called in 1 Es 8'^ Obeth.
EBED-MELECH (Tj^n-ijj;).— An Ethiop. eunuch, at whose intercession and by whose personal exertions Jeremiah was released from the pit- prison of Malchiah. For this kindly service E. was promised immunity from the fate of his companions at the capture of Jems. (Jer 38'*- SQ""-). It is pos- sible that the name E., which means 'servant of [the] king,' may have been an official title. A verr ancient seal (see fig. on p. 258 of Benzinger's Beb. Arch.) is inscribed 'Obadiah servant of the king' (Obadfahu 'ebhed hammelekh). More probable, however, is the view of Gray {Heb. Prop. Names, 117, 147), who takes Melech as a di\ane name.
J. A. Selbie.
EBENEZER (\iJ2ij px or ijn.t 'Stone of help'). —Mentioned three times in 1 S. According to 4' 5' it is the scene of a great defeat of the Isr. at the hands of the Phil, in the time of Eli, while in 7" it is the name of a stone set up by Samuel to com- memorate a great victory over the Philistines ; it is further noticeable that in 7" the name is appar- ently given for the first time, though the victory there described happened some twenty years after the events of ch. 4' 5'. In 7", which belongs to a somewhat later document, E. is placed under Beth-car, and between Mizpah and Hasshen ('the tooth ') ; but we must here follow the LXX (r^« xaXaias), and read ' between Mizpah and Jashan (or Jeshanah ) ' ; the latter (cf. 2 Ch 13'") is probably the modem "Ain Sinia, to the N. of Bethel. On this view, E. would lie somewhere at the head of the valley of Aijalon ; this site is further favoured by the notice in 4"-. The more generally accepted theory, however, places E. more to the south, at the head of the vale of Sorek, and either identities the stone set up by Samuel with the great stone at Bethsheraesh (6") or places it in the immediate neighbourhood. But this identification does not suit 7", and is hardly compatible witli the narra- tive of 4'-7'. See G. A. Smith, lfi.9t. Geogr. p. 223 f. J. F. Stennino.
EBER (Tjy). — 1. The eponymous ancestor of the Hebrews (which see), great-grandson of Shem, son of Shelah, and father of Peleg and Joktan (Gn 10'«- ll""-, 1 Ch !'«• '»•"), perhaps used noetic ally for Israel in Nu 24" (but see Dillm. act he.)
EBEZ
ECCLESIASTES
637
S. The representative of the priestly family of Amok in the days of Joiakim, Neh 12*. 3. A Gadite family name, 1 Ch S"*. 4. 5. The name of two Ueujamite families, 1 Ch 8"- ". See Gene-
Ueuj ALOOV
J. A. Selgie.
EBEZ (fjtf). 'white.' — A city of Issachar (Jos 19*). The site is uncertain. Probably the ruin El-Beidhth, 'the white," east of Carmel. SWP vol. i. sheet v. C. R. CONDER.
EBIASAPH.— See Abiasapb.
EBONT (D'jnn ^6nf7n).— The Arab, name for this wood is very near the Heb., being ebnUs. There can be no reasonable doubt of the identity of the wood intended in the single passage in which it is mentioned (Ezk 27"). It was brought to Tyre by merchants from Dedan, on the Pers. Gulf. It is the black heart-wood of Diospyros Ehcntim, L., and several other species of the same genus, trees growing to a large size in Ceylon and S. India. D. Ebenum, however, furnishes the best wood. It resembles the common and the Japanese pemmmon in its mode of growth and inflorescence, and in bearing an edible fruit, between a pome and a berry. The sap-wood is white and valueless, but the heart often yields a log 2 ft. in diameter, and 10 to 15 ft. long. G. E. Post.
EBRON (i't?!^). — A town in the territory assigned to Aeher (Jos 19" RV ; wrongly written Hebron in AV, as if from f"ari, the name of the famous J udaan city). It is lust possible that we should read 'Ebdon, for "Ebron, the latter form having arisen from the substitution, not uncommon, of t for i. It is noteworthy that this name, 'Ebron, occurs but once, while in the other name-lists for Aaher (Jos 21"^, 1 Ch 6") we have an 'Ebdon or 'Abdon, which is absent here. This supposition has the ■npport of twenty MSS (Gesenius). It is, how- ever, in conflict with the ancient versions, all of which give ' Ebron, with the single exception of B, which unaccountably has 'E\pu>y. From the order in which the towns are mentioned, we should seek for E. somewhere north of Cabrtl, and south of Rehob, Hammon, and J^anah. No certain identi- fication has yet been made : in position the ruin of 'Abdeh answers well enougli the condition indicated. Twelve miles north of Cabfll, about 10 miles N.N.E. of Acre, and 3 miles ea.st of Achzib, — the modem Ez-Zib, — it occupies a slight eminence on the northern edge of the Plain of Acre, the mountains rising like grim giianlians behind. If we accept the identification of 'Ebron with 'Abdon, this seems to be the most probable site. W. EwiKQ.