Elisheba

by Wayne Blank

Elisheba was the wife of Aaron. Her brother-in-law was therefore Aaron's brother Moses. Curiously, Elisheba was of the tribe of Judah (and of the royal line of the Messiah through Judah - see also the Fact Finder question below) but when she married Aaron she became a matriarch of the Levitical priesthood (see Levites) through their children. Elisheba's name in Hebrew is pronounced el-ee-sheh-bah which means God of the oath, from a combination of the Hebrew name for God (pronounced) ale (see Isra-EL) and the Hebrew word for seven, pronounced sheh-bah (see Sheh-bah).

Elisheba

Levites Although Elisheba is not directly recorded as being of Judah, we can deduce that she was of the tribe of Judah from her brother Nahshon (also spelled Naashon) and her father Amminadab being listed in the tribe of Judah in the order of The Camp during the Wilderness Journey (and in the ancestry of Jesus Christ - see the Fact Finder question below):

"And The Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father's house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch. And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be captain of the children of Judah. And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred." (Numbers 2:1-4 KJV)

Elisheba married Aaron, and together they had four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

"And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar." (Exodus 6:23 KJV)

Elisheba and Aaron lost their first two sons, disobedient Nadab and Abihu, to The Lord's wrath:

"And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before The Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from The Lord, and devoured them, and they died before The Lord." (Leviticus 10:1-2 KJV)

Elisheba and Aaron's other two sons were more successful; it was through Eleazar and Ithamar that the symbolic High Priesthood was to continue until the coming of the ultimate High Priest, Jesus Christ (see High Priest to King of The World):

"Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father" (Numbers 3:4 KJV)

Fact Finder: Is Elisheba of the royal line of Judah i.e. are Elisheba's brother and father, Nashon and Amminadab, listed as direct ancestors of Jesus Christ?
Matthew 1:1,4

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