Bible Dictionaries
Ezer

Holman Bible Dictionary

(ee' zer) English spelling of two Hebrew names with different spellings and meanings. The first Hebrew meaning is “gathering” or “pile.” Ezer was a leader in Edom and a descendant of Esau (Genesis 36:21 ,Genesis 36:21,36:27 ,Genesis 36:27,36:30 ). He was a Horite and lived in Seir or Edom.

The second Hebrew meaning is “help” or “hero.” 1. A descendant of Judah (1 Chronicles 4:4 ) in the clan of Caleb. 2. Son of Ephraim and grandson of Jacob. With his brother Elead, he was killed as he tried to take cattle from the inhabitants of Gath (1 Chronicles 7:21 ). Ephraim was born and lived in Egypt with his family (Genesis 46:20 ). When any of his immediate family would have had opportunity to visit Gath and steal cattle is a difficult question. It may be history of clans of Ephraim and refer to a moment of mourning in the history of families descended from Ephraim. The place in the middle of the list of descendants of Ephraim and ancestors of Joshua points to a time after that of Ephraim himself. Otherwise, a different Ephraim from the son of Jacob is meant, or Ephraim, the son of Jacob, entered Palestine, but the Bible did not preserve a story of his travels. 3. Member of tribe of Gad who joined David's wilderness army before he became king (1 Chronicles 12:9 ). 4 . Person who helped Nehemiah repair the Jerusalem wall. His father had political authority over Mizpah (Nehemiah 3:19 ). 5 . Temple musician who helped Nehemiah dedicate the completion of the Jerusalem wall (Nehemiah 12:42 , with a slightly different Hebrew spelling). See Ebenezer .