Forbes Robinson.
EHI (■"!<). — The eponym of a Benjamite family, Gn 46-', where, however, cjo biii; 'ntj must be corrected after Nu 26'"- to c;5-'i dtck. ' The cor- ruption was perhaps prior to the adoption of the square character ; o and c in the old script being similar and liable to confusion. It may, however, be due to mere transposition of the two letters ' (Ball in Haupt's Genesis, ad loc.). See further AuiRAM, and cf. Gray, Ueb. Prop. Names, 35.
J. A. Selbie.
EHUD (■i>n(<), son of Gera, a left-handed Benjamite, delivered his jicoplo by a bold exploit from Eglon, king of Moab, who had captured Jericho and oppressed Israel for eighteen years. This history is given in >Ig 3'-'*'. The compiler has furnished an introduction and conclusion in bis usual manner (Vy, u-i6a. 80b) . ti,e narrative itself (vv."''"''*) is one of the most ancient in the book, and a cliaracter- istic specimen of the best style of Heb. story- telling. Doubts have been cast upon the name of the hero, because Ehud and Gora elsewhere are names of Benjamite clans. Gera is a son (Gn 4C-') or grandson (1 Ch 8'), Ehud is a great-grandson (1 Ch 7'°), of Benjamin (Noldeke, Untersuch. p. 179 f.; Stado, Gesrh. i. C8). But E. may well have been the name of the hero before it was the name of the dun called after him (Budde, liicht. u Sam. 100). Wellliausen {Gott. Nachriohten. 189o, p. 480) suggests that ninx may be an abbreviation of ii.TZN in 1 Ch 8'. G. A. Cooke.
EITHER.— L Now alternative, one or the other ■ in older Kng. 'either' was comprehensive, eocA <;/
c Scrivener, op. eit. cd. ill. n. 371.
0 Westcott and Hort, The A T in Ih* Original Oreek, aiialler ed. p. f)74.
y Scrivener, op. eit. ed. Iv. vol. 11. p. 105 1.
1 Ciasca, op. eit. vol. I. ji. viil t. t Op. eit. vol. 11. p. xvili IT.
t Op. cU. vol. II. p. xxxvi f
•I Xachriehlen ron dcr K.O. d. W. tti OMtinifen, 1889, No. S, p. 4911. StcindorlT (op. eil. i 2) suiryicsta the end of the »r»'. cent, as the date of tin* Coptic translation of the Bible.. Stern In his Critinche Antnfrkunijen zu der boheirischcn V'herKet. zttnij der I'rocerbia Salom'onii (ZAS, 1882, p. 101 fT.) con- jectures that the Boh. Version may be much later than the Sah., wliich, In part at least, was mudo In th" 3rd cent. (p. 201!). He thinks It possible that the Boh. and Sah. Versions may prov« to he based on some form of the M.E. {ZAS, 18SII, p. 136).
674
EKLR
ELAM, ELA.MITES
turn, like its German equivalent 'jeder.' Thus Lv 10' ' Nailab ami Abiliu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer ' ; 1 K 7" ; Jn 19'" ' on eitlier side one,' and Rev 23" ' on either side of the river was there the tree of life.' Cf. Ridley, Bre/e Declaration (155D), p. 102 (Moule's ed.), 'as some of them do odiously call cither other ' — changed in the Oxf. ed. 1GS8 into ' each other.' 2. ' Either ' was formerly u.sed to introduce the second or any later alternative, as well as the first ; so Ja 3'" and Ph 3'^ ' Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect' (RV 'or'); and so Lk 6^^ ' Either how canst thou say to thy brother' (RV 'Or'). In this sense 'either else' is also found, as Stubbes, Anat. Abus. ii. 10, 'Either else they would never be so desirous of revenge.'
J. Hastings. EKER (iHy).— A Jerahmeelite (1 Ch 2"). See Genealogy.
EKREBEL ('EK/)e;9i5X), Jth 7".— Apparently the town of 'Akrabeh, E. of Shechem, the capital of Akrabattine (SWF ii. sh. 12).
EERON d'npv, 'Ax/copiiv), one of the five principal cities of the Philistines, the one farthest to the N. (Jos 13'). It was a centre, having towns and villages dependent upon it (Jos 15"). In the first division of the land W. of the Jordan it was assigned to Judah, being on the N. boundary of that tribe (Jos IS'"- •"•"), but in the later division the boundaries were so rectified as to give it to Dan (Jos 19"). It is mentioned as among the cities not captured under Joshua (Jos 13^). After his death it was taken by Judah (Jg 1") ; but the possession was not permanent, for we afterwards find it in the hands of the Philistines till the time of David. It is prominently mentioned in the history of the time when the ark was in the land of the Philistines (1 S 5. 6), and in connexion with later events (1 S 7'* 17'>f). Like the rest of the Phil, cities, it became practically indfjpendent soon after the disruption. It is mentioned in history in the time of Jehoshaphat (2 K P- '■ "• "), in the time of Amos (Am 1°, Zee 9'-'), and in the time of Jeremiah (Jer 25-°). The records of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, mention a revolt of E. from the Assyrians to Hezekiah, and the condign punishment inflicted (see, e.g., Smith's Assijr. Disc. pp. 304-306). It is found in the Apocrypha (1 Mac 10^, AV Accaron) as a place given by Alexander Balas to Jonathan MaccabiEus in reward for his services. It is spoken of in connexion with a march of king Baldwin the crusader, A.D. 1100 (Robinson, BRP ii. 228). It is apparently identified with 'Akir, 4 miles E. of Ycona, and is now a station on the railway from Jafi'a to .Jerusalem. (See PHILISTINES.