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Bible Encyclopedias
Ezrahite
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (Hebrew, with the article ha-Ezrach הָאֶזְרָחִי, as if a patronymic from Ezrach; Sept. ὁ Ζαρίτης v.r. οΕ῾᾿ζραηλίτης, Vulg. Ezrohita), a title attached to two persons — Ethan (1 Kings 4:31; Psalms 89, title) and Heman (Psalms 88, title). The word is naturally derivable from Ezrah, אֶזְרָח, or which is almost the same — Zerah, זֶרִח; and accordingly in 1 Chronicles 2:6, Ehan and Heman are both given as sons of Zerah, the son of Judah. Another Ethan and another Heman are named as Levites and musicians in the lists of 1 Chronicles 6 and elsewhere. — Smith, s.v. In the passage first cited, "the Ezrabite," or, rather, Ezrachite, appears as a designation applied to Ethan, a man famous for his wisdom (1 Kings 5:11 [A. V. 4:31]). (See ETHAN). In the inscription of Psalms 89, Ethan the Ezrahite is named as its author; and in the inscription of Isaiah 98 the same is said with respect to it of Heman the Ezrahite. This has led some to identify the Ethan and Heman, who were chief among the singers appointed by David (1 Chronicles 15:19). But we have no reason to believe that, whatever skill these men had in music, they were famed for surpassing wisdom; and the inscription in Psalms is perhaps due to the mistake of some one in whose mind the passage in Kings had got mixed up with 1 Chronicles 2:6, where Ethan and Heman appear among the sons of Zerah of the tribe of Judah. As אזרהי is the same as זרהי with the prosthetic א, it is not improbable that in this last passage it is the Ethan of Kings that is referred to; but we cannot with certainty pronounce this, as there is a want of accordance between the statement of the chronicler and that is Kings respecting the parentage of the other persons mentioned. It is not impossible, however, that the names "Heman, Calcol, and Dara" have been interpolated in the text of Chronicles form the passage in Kings, especially as the writer goes on to state only the descendants of Carmi or Zimri and Ethan (1 Chronicles 2:7-8). In this case Ethan, the son of Zerah, may be Ethan the Ezrahite; but there is no Heman the Ezrahite. — Kitte, S.V. A readier solution of the whole difficulty would be to suppose that "Ezrahite" in the title to Psalms 88 is merely an orthographical variety for IZHARITE (יַצְהָרַי, 1 Chronicles 26:23), a Levitical family to which the musical Heman certainly belonged (1 Chronicles 1:33-38); and that the epithet has crept into the title of Psalms 89 by assimilation of the names of Ethan and Heman so frequently associated together (these two Psalms being apparently closely related in authorship, and perhaps originally joined together; set Delitzsch, Commentar fib. den Psalter, 1:653 sq.). (See ZARHITE).
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Ezrahite'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/e/ezrahite.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
