Eliab

Eliab is a Hebrew given name that appears in the Hebrew Bible. It is derived from the elements El, meaning God, and ab, meaning father, so the name is commonly understood to mean “God is my father” or “El is my God.” The form appears in a few different biblical contexts and is sometimes clarified by patronymics to distinguish among individuals with the same name.

One prominent figure named Eliab is the eldest son of Jesse, and thus David’s older brother. He is mentioned in the narrative surrounding David’s rise and in the encounter when Samuel visits Bethlehem to anoint a king. Eliab is described in terms of his appearance and status, and he questions David’s motives when David expresses willingness to confront the Philistine Goliath. This Eliab is used in the text to illustrate several themes, including divine selection versus human judgment and the dynamics within David’s family.

Another bearer of the name is Eliab, son of Helon, who is listed as a leader of the tribe of Zebulun in the wilderness census and subsequent tribal lists. He is identified by his patronymic rather than by a familial relationship to other well-known biblical figures. References to Eliab son of Helon appear in the accounts of the tribes’ leadership during the Israelites’ desert wandering, notably in Numbers and in Chronicles.

In later biblical usage, the name Eliab appears infrequently, and its occurrences are primarily as the names of these two distinct individuals or as variants in different manuscripts. In modern times, Eliab is a relatively rare given name but may be encountered in Jewish, Christian, or scholarly contexts exploring biblical onomastics.