Elizaphan

Elizaphan is a personal name borne by two distinct men in the Old Testament: a Kohathite Levite, son of Uzziel and grandson of Kohath, who serves as a clan-prince in the wilderness and whose descendants surface again in the worship reforms of David and Hezekiah; and a leader of the tribe of Zebulun appointed to help apportion Canaan. The Hebrew name is also written Elzaphan in the older Mosaic narratives, then standardized to Elizaphan in the later texts.

The Levite, Son of Uzziel

Elizaphan first appears in the Levitical genealogy of Exodus. Uzziel, brother of Amram and uncle of Aaron, fathers three sons: "And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri" (Ex 6:22). The same pair of brothers reappear at the catastrophe of Nadab and Abihu, when Yahweh's fire consumes Aaron's two oldest sons inside the sanctuary. Mishael and Elzaphan are pressed into the grim duty of carrying the corpses out: "And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, Draw near, carry your⁺ brothers from before the sanctuary out of the camp" (Le 10:4).

In the wilderness census of Numbers 3, Elizaphan is named clan-prince over the Kohathites, the Levitical family charged with carrying the most sacred furnishings of the tabernacle: "And the prince of the fathers' house of the families of the Kohathites will be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel" (Nu 3:30).

The Prince of Zebulun

A different Elizaphan, otherwise unconnected to the Levitical line, is appointed alongside the heads of the other tribes to divide the land of Canaan as Israel prepares to enter it: "And of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a prince, Elizaphan the son of Parnach" (Nu 34:25). The patronymic distinguishes him: this Elizaphan is the son of Parnach, not the son of Uzziel.

The House of Elizaphan in Worship

The Levitical Elizaphan's name continues as the marker of a Kohathite sub-house that supplies singers and gatekeepers for Israel's worship. When David assembles the Levites to bring the ark to Jerusalem, the sons of Elizaphan are mustered as one of the Kohathite divisions: "of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and his brothers two hundred" (1Ch 15:8).

Centuries later, in Hezekiah's purging of the temple, Levites from the same house answer the king's summons: "and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah" (2Ch 29:13). The Levite of Exodus 6 is, on the natural reading, the head whose descendants still bear his name in Chronicles.