There is a most profound significance in the obser- vation made !>}• Aristotle in regard to Parmenides, that, " looking up to the whole heavens, he declared the one only Being to be God." This seems to have been the distinctive purport of the Eleatic School, though it was soon obscured, and ultimately discarded ; but it prop- agated itself by a secret growth, and allied itself with other forms of speculation.
Literature. — Plato, Sophista, Parmenides ; Aristotle, Z)i3 Xenophane, Zenone et Gorc/ia; Metaph/sica, lib. i, cap. V ; Diogenes Laertius ; Bayle, Diet. Hist, et Crit. s. V. Xenophane ; Eoschmann, Diss. Hist. Philosoph. de Xenoplinne (Altona, 1729) ; Fiilleborn, Liber de Xeno- phfinc, Zenone, Gorr/ia, Aristoteli vulr/o tributus, partim i/lustrafus commentario (Hal. 1780) ; Fragments of Xenophnnes and Parmenides (Zullichau, 1795) ; Van der l^.cm\>, Parmenides (Edmse, 1781); Gundling, 06- servations on the Philosophy of Parmenides ; Brandis, Comin. Eleaticarum pars i (Altona, 1813); V. Cousin, Noiiveaux Essais Philosophiqucs (Paris, 1828); Eosen- berg, De Eleaticw philos. primordiis (Berl. 1829); Kar- sten, Philosophorum Grcec. vderum Reliquice (Bruxelles, 1830) ; JluUach, Aristotelis de Meiisso lib. Disputntiones (Bcrol. 18-10) ; Lewes, Hist, of Philosophy (Lond. 1867, i, 67 sq.) ; Uel)er\veg, Gesch. d. Philosnphie, i, 47 ; and the various historians of Greek philosophy. (G. F. H.)
Elea'zar (Ileb. Elazar', \trbx, whom God has heljied: Sejit. and N. T. 'E\trt,^ap ; from the Graecized form 'KXid'^apoc: [found in Maccabees and Josephus], came b}^ contraction the later name Art^aooc, Laza- rus), a common name among the Hebrews, being borne by at least six persons mentioned in Scripture, besides several in the Apocrj'pha and Josephus. See also
El.IEZER.
1. The third son of Aaron, liy Elisheba, daughter of Amuiinad:il), who was descended from Judah, through I'liarcz (Exod. vi, 23; xxviii, 1; for his descent, see Gen. xxxviii,29; xlvi,12; Euth iv, 18, 20). He mar- ried a daughter of Putiel, wlio bore him Pliinehas (Exod. vi, 25). After the death of Nadal> and-Abihu witliout cliildron (Lev. x, 1 ; Num. iii, 4), Eleazar was a])pointed cliief over the principal Levites, to have the oversight of tiiose who had charge of the sanctuary
(Num. iii, 32). With his brother Itharaar he minis- tered as a priest during their father's lifetime, and im- mediately before the death of their father he was in- vested on Mount Hor with the sacred garments, as the successor of Aaron in the office of high-priest (Num. XX, 28). B.C. 1619. One of his first duties was, in conjunction with Moses, to superintend the census of the people (Num. xxvi, 3). He also assisted at the in- auguration of Joshua, and at the division of spoil taken from the Midianites (Num. xxvii, 22 ; xxxi, 21). Af- ter the conquest of Canaan by Joshua, he took part in the distribution of the land (Josh, xiv, 1). The time of his death is not mentioned in Scripture ; Josephus saj-s it took place about the same time as Joshua's, 25 years after the death of Moses. He is said to have been buried in "the hill of Phinehas" his son (Josh. xxiv, 33), where Josephus says his tomb existed {Ant. V, ], 29), or ])0ssibly a town called Gibeath-Phinehas ((Jesenius, Thesaur. p. 260, b). Tlie high-priesthood is said to have remained in the family of Eleazar until tlie time of Eli, a descendant of Ithmar, into whose family, for some reason unknown, it passed until it was restored to the family of Eleazar in the ])erson of Zadok (1 Sam. ii, 27 ; 1 Chron. vi, 8 ; xxiv, 3 ; 1 Kings ii, 27 ; Jose])hus, Ant. viii, 1, 3).- — Smith, s. v. See
HiGII-PKIEST.
2. An inhabitant of Kirjath-jearim, on the "hill" (r!"3'.), who was set apart by his fellow-townsmen to attend upon the ark, while it remained under the roof of his fiither Abinadab, after it had been returned to the Hebrews hy the Philistines (1 Sam. vii, 1, 2). B.C. 1124. His service in this capacity was doubtless some- what irregular, but justifiable under the circumstances; for there is no evidence that he belonged to the priest- ly order, although it is probable that he was of a Le- vitical family (who were not allowed to touch the ark, but had only the general charge of it. Num. iii, 31 ; iv, 15). He seems to have continued to exercise this sole care of the sacred deposit for the twenty j'ears that in- tervened till the judgeship of Samuel (1 Sam. vii, 1), although the ark remained in the same place much longer (1 Chi'on. xiii, 7).
3. A Levite, son of Mahli, and grandson of Merari. B.C. cir. 1618. He is mentioned as having had only daughters, who were married by their " brethren" (i. e. their cousins) (1 Chron. xxiii, 21, 22 : xxiv, 28).
4. The son of Dodo the Ahohite ("^nhx-'a), i. e. possibly a descendant of Ahoah, of the tribe of Benja- min (1 Chron. viii, 4) ; one of the three most eminent of David's thirt3'-seven distinguished heroes (1 Ciiron. xi, 12), who " fought till his hand was weary" in main- taining with David and the other two a daring stand against the Philistines after "the men of Israel had gone awaj'." He was also one of the same three when they broke througli the Philistine host to gratify David's lonyiing for a drink of water from tlie well of his native Bethlehem (2 Sam. xxiii, 9, 10, 13). B.C. cir. 1046. See David.