Eder

The name Eder (also spelled Edar) belongs to two places and one Levite. The places — a watch-tower near Ephrath and a frontier town in southern Judah — share the name with a grandson of Merari numbered among the sons of Mushi.

The Tower of Eder

After Rachel's death and burial near Ephrath, Israel pitches camp on the far side of a landmark identified as the tower of Eder: "And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder" (Gen 35:21). The tower itself is named only in passing, as the geographical marker that locates Israel's encampment.

A City on Judah's Southern Border

A separate Eder appears in Judah's territorial allotment, listed among the southernmost cities of the tribe near the Edomite frontier: "And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the sons of Judah toward the border of Edom in the South were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur" (Jos 15:21). The name occurs in the catalogue without further description.

Eder Among the Sons of Mushi

The Levitical genealogies record Eder as one of three sons of Mushi (Merari's son). The first listing places him alongside Mahli and Jeremoth: "The sons of Mushi: Mahli, and Eder, and Jeremoth, three" (1Ch 23:23). The second confirms the same family within the wider arrangement of Levitical fathers' houses: "And the sons of Mushi: Mahli, and Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites after their fathers' houses" (1Ch 24:30).