Eldad

Eldad is one of two men, paired with Medad, who receive the Spirit and prophesy inside the Israelite camp rather than at the Tent — and whose unsanctioned prophesying becomes the occasion for Moses to wish that all Yahweh's people were prophets.

Prophesying in the Camp

The narrative singles out two men who, although enrolled among the seventy elders, do not go out with the rest to the Tent: "But there remained two men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the Spirit rested on them; and they were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp" (Nu 11:26). News of it travels back fast — "And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp" (Nu 11:27).

Joshua's Objection and Moses' Reply

Joshua urges Moses to shut it down: "And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them" (Nu 11:28). Moses refuses the objection and turns it into a wish for the opposite: "And Moses said to him, Are you jealous for my sake? Oh that all Yahweh's people were prophets, that Yahweh would put his Spirit on them!" (Nu 11:29). The episode names Eldad as one of the two whose Spirit-given speech, occurring outside the proper place, draws Moses' refusal to restrict who may prophesy.