Ancestor of exiles who returned to Jerusalem
Elam
Named in 7 verses across 2 books, first in Ezra 2:7.
עֵילָםElam
The name means “a young man; a virgin; a secret.” Hitchcock's Bible Names, 1869
About Elam Written by AI
Elam is mentioned in Ezra 2:7; and Nehemiah 7:12 as the ancestor of a group of Jewish exiles who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. In Ezra 2:7 and Nehemiah 7:12, the descendants of Elam are listed among the exiles who returned with Zerubbabel. Ezra 8:7 records that some of the descendants of Elam also returned with Ezra. In Ezra 10:2, some of the descendants of Elam are mentioned among those who had married foreign women and pledged to put them away. The repeated mentions of Elam's descendants suggest they were a significant family group among the returning exiles.
Drafted by an AI model for STEPBible's TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Check it against the verses below.
Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897
This entry is on the name Elam, and may cover more than one person or place by that name.
Highland, the son of Shem (Gen. 10:22), and the name of the country inhabited by his descendants (14:1, 9; Isa. 11:11; 21:2, etc.) lying to the east of Babylonia, and extending to the shore of the Mediterranean, a distance in a direct line of about 1,000 miles. The name Elam is an Assyrian word meaning “high.”
“The inhabitants of Elam, or ‘the Highlands,’ to the east of Babylon, were called Elamites. They were divided into several branches, speaking different dialects of the same agglutinative language. The race to which they belonged was brachycephalic, or short-headed, like the pre-Semitic Sumerians of Babylonia.
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“The earliest Elamite kingdom seems to have been that of Anzan, the exact site of which is uncertain; but in the time of Abraham, Shushan or Susa appears to have already become the capital of the country. Babylonia was frequently invaded by the Elamite kings, who at times asserted their supremacy over it (as in the case of Chedorlaomer, the Kudur-Lagamar, or ‘servant of the goddess Lagamar,’ of the cuneiform texts).
“The later Assyrian monarchs made several campaigns against Elam, and finally Assur-bani-pal (about B.C. 650) succeeded in conquering the country, which was ravaged with fire and sword. On the fall of the Assyrian Empire, Elam passed into the hands of the Persians” (A.H. Sayce).
This country was called by the Greeks Cissia or Susiana.
M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, third edition (1897), public domain, from CrossWire. Shown as written; its Scripture quotes are from older translations.
Where the Bible names him
- Ezra 2:7
the descendants of Elam, 1,254;
- Ezra 2:31
the descendants of the other Elam, 1,254;
- Ezra 8:7
from the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men;
- Ezra 10:2
Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite, said to Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people of the land, yet in spite of this, there is hope for Israel.
- Ezra 10:26
From the descendants of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah.
- Nehemiah 7:12
the descendants of Elam, 1,254;
- Nehemiah 7:34
the descendants of the other Elam, 1,254;
From STEPBible's TIPNR, Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0): names, family, references and the AI written article. Verse text is the BSB.