View source for Eleazar

{{Short description|High Priest of Israel and son of Aaron}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox saint
| name = Eleazar
| image = Facial Chronicle - b.02, p.187 - Eleazar receiving trophies.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = Eleazar receiving trophies
| titles = 
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 
| birth_place = 
| home_town = 
| residence = 
| death_date = 
| death_place = Judea 
| venerated_in = [[Catholic Church]]<br />[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<br />[[Armenian Apostolic Church]]<br />[[Islam]]
| beatified_date = 
| beatified_place = 
| beatified_by = 
| canonized_date = 
| canonized_place = 
| canonized_by = 
| major_shrine = 
| feast_day = 2 September ([[Catholic Church]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church]])<br />30 July ([[Armenian Apostolic Church]])
| attributes = 
| patronage = 
| issues = 
| suppressed_date = 
| suppressed_by = 
| influences = 
| influenced = 
| tradition = 
| major_works = 
}}

'''Eleazar''' ({{IPAc-en|ɛ|l|i|ˈ|eɪ|z|ər|}}; {{Hebrew name|אֶלְעָזָר|ʾElʿazar|ʾElʿāzār|"[[El (deity)#Hebrew Bible|El]] has helped"}}) or '''Elazar''' was a [[kohen|priest]] in the [[Hebrew Bible]], the second [[High Priest of Israel|High Priest]], succeeding his father [[Aaron]] after he died.<ref>{{bibleverse|Numbers|20:26-28|NKJV}}</ref> He was a nephew of [[Moses]].

==Biblical narrative==
Eleazar played a number of roles during the course of [[the Exodus]], from creating the plating for the [[altar (Bible)|altar]] from the firepans of [[Korah]]'s assembly,<ref>Numbers 16:36–40</ref> to performing the ritual of the [[red heifer]].<ref>Numbers 19</ref> After the death of his older brothers [[Nadab and Abihu]], he and his younger brother [[Ithamar]] were put in charge of the sanctuary. His wife, a daughter of [[Putiel]], bore him [[Phinehas]], who would eventually succeed him as High Priest of Israel.

[[Leviticus 10]]:16–18 recounts Moses's anger towards Eleazar and Ithamar for not eating a [[sin offering]] inside the [[Tabernacle]], which violated the regulations outlined for priests in earlier chapters of [[Leviticus]].

During the Exodus, as the Israelites journeyed through the wilderness, Eleazar was in charge of carrying several important items: the oil for the [[Temple menorah|lampstand]], the sweet [[Incense offering|incense]], the daily [[grain offering]], and the [[Shemen (bible)|anointing oil]]. Additionally, he oversaw the transportation of the [[Ark of the Covenant]], the table for [[showbread]], the [[Altar (Bible)|altar]], and other tabernacle fittings. These items were transported by the [[Kohathites]] of clan Levi.<ref>{{bibleverse|Numbers|4:16|he}}</ref> Following the rebellion against Moses's leadership recorded in [[Numbers 16]], Eleazar was charged with taking the rebels' [[bronze]] [[censer]]s and hammering them into a covering for the altar, acting as a reminder of [[Korach (parashah)|Korah’s failed rebellion]] and the restriction of the Jewish priesthood to the [[Aaronites]].<ref>Numbers 16:36–40</ref>

On [[Mount Hor]], he was clothed with the sacred vestments, which Moses had taken from Aaron and placed upon Eleazar as successor to the high priest's office before Aaron's death.<ref>{{Tanakhverse|Numbers|20:25–28}}</ref> Eleazar held the office of high priest for over twenty years. He took part with Moses in numbering the people and assisted at the inauguration of [[Joshua]].

He assisted in the distribution of the land after the conquest.<ref>Joshua 14:1</ref> When he died, he "was buried at [[Gibeah]], which had been allotted to his son Phinehas in the hill country of [[Ephraim]]".<ref>{{bibleverse|Joshua|24:33|he}}</ref> The ''[[Hill of Phinehas]]''<ref name="Joshua">[http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0624.htm Joshua 24:33] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119231745/http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0624.htm |date=2018-11-19 }}.</ref> related in the [[Hebrew Bible]] is associated with the location of the village of [[Awarta]] in the [[Samaria]]n section of the current day [[West Bank]].

The high priesthood remained in the family of Eleazar until the time of [[Eli (biblical figure)|Eli]], into whose family it passed. Eli was a descendant of Ithamar, Eleazar's brother.<ref name="Josephus">[http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/josephus/ant8.html Josephus]</ref> The high priesthood was restored to the family of Eleazar—in the person of [[Zadok]]—after [[Abiathar]] was cast out by [[Solomon]].<ref>Prophesied in [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%202:30-36;&version=9 I Sm 2:30–6]; fulfilled in [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings%202:26-27;&version=9; I Kg 2:26–7]</ref>

According to Jewish tradition, Eleazar was buried in [[Awarta]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Çelebi |first=Evliya |author-link=Evliya Çelebi |title=Evliya Tshelebi's Travels in Palestine (1648-1650) |translator=St. H. Stephan |translator-link=Stephan Hanna Stephan |editor=L. A. Mayer |editor-link=Leo Aryeh Mayer |publisher=Ariel |date=1980 |location=Jerusalem|page=143 (note 5) |language=en|url=https://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/StephanCelebiPalestine2.pdf |oclc=11048154 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Levi-Naḥum|first=Yehuda |contribution=The graves of the fathers and of the righteous |title=Sefer ṣohar le-ḥasifat ginzei teiman |publisher=Mifʻal ḥaśifat ginze Teman|year=1986|location=Ḥolon, Israel |pages=252–253 |language=he|oclc=15417732 |quote=In Awarta (corrected from a copyist error where the Hebrew letter 'resh' was confounded for a 'dalet') there are seventy elders [buried] in one cave near the village, and in the highest place of the village, at the top of the mountain, is [the burial site of] Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, may peace be upon him.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-last=Ben-Yosef |author-first=Sefi |author-link=:he:ספי בן-יוסף |editor=David Grossman|contribution=Awarta|title=Israel Guide - The Northern Valleys, Mount Carmel and Samaria (A useful encyclopedia for the knowledge of the country)|volume=8 |publisher=Keter Publishing House |location=Jerusalem|year=1980|pages=345–347 |language=he|oclc=745203905 |quote=There are three local cult centers in the area of Awarta. The westernmost of them is Tel er-Rās, also called en-Nabi 'Uzair. According to Muslim tradition, this is the grave of Ezra the Scribe. According to Jewish tradition, which also holds sacred the burial site at the top of the hill, the place is called Giv'at Phinehas (the hill of Phinehas) and it is where the High Priest Eleazar ben Aaron was buried (Joshua 24:33) }}</ref>

==Commemorations==
Eleazar is commemorated as a saint in the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and [[Roman Catholic Church]] on [[September 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)|September 2]], and as one of the Holy Forefathers in the [[Calendar of Saints (Armenian Apostolic Church)|Calendar of Saints]] of the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]] on July 30.{{cn|date=July 2022}}

==Other biblical figures named Eleazar==
Five other men named Eleazar are briefly mentioned in the Hebrew Bible:

* [[Eleazar, son of Abinadab]], who was entrusted as a keeper of the [[Ark of the Covenant]]
* [[Eleazar (son of Dodai)]], one of [[King David]]'s warriors
* [[Eleazar, son of Pinhas]], one of those in charge of the sacred vessels brought back to [[Jerusalem]] after the [[Babylonian Exile]].
* [[Eleazar Avaran|Eleazar, called Avaran]] who slays a battle elephant in I Maccabees.
* [[Eleazar (2 Maccabees)|Eleazar, the Hebrew scribe]] whose martyrdom under [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]] was recounted in II Maccabees.

In the [[Gospel of Matthew]], another Eleazar, the son of Eliud, is listed in the [[genealogy of Jesus]] as the great-grandfather of [[Saint Joseph|Joseph]], husband of [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]].

== Patrilineal ancestry ==
{{Patrilineal descent of the High Priests of Israel|hideafter=7}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|isra}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Aaron]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of High Priests of Israel|High Priest of Israel]]|years=Years unknown}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Phinehas]]}}
{{end}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://www.mpc.org.mk/English/Calendar/prologue.asp?id=1800 Lives of the saints - Righteous Eleazar], [[Macedonian Orthodox Church]] website
* [https://catholicsaints.info/eleazar-the-patriarch/ Eleazar the Patriarch], [[Roman Catholic Church]] website
{{High Priests of Judaism}}
{{Muslim saints}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:High priests of Israel]]
[[Category:Christian saints from the Old Testament]]
[[Category:Family of Aaron and Moses]]