Ethan (biblical figure)

Ethan (Hebrew: אֵיתָן‎, Modern: Eytan / Eitan, Tiberian: ʾÊṯān, "Firm") the Ezrahite, is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. It may be that Ethan was a cymbal-player in King David's court. He authored Psalms 89: this Psalm is entitled "a maschil or contemplation of Ethan the Ezrahite". Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon theorised that this was the same person as Jeduthun. Theologian John Gill refers to a Jewish tradition which identifies Ethan with Abraham, Heman with Moses, and Chalcol with Joseph.[1]

For other uses, see Ethan (disambiguation).
Ethan (far right, in red robe), depicted in the Saint Mary Lutheran Church in Legnica

Ethan means strong and optimistic, solid and enduring, permanent. The name Ethan appears eight times in the Hebrew Bible (1  Kings 4:31, Ps. 89 title, 1 Chr. 2:6 and 2:8, 1 Chr. 6:42 and 6:44, and 1 Chr. 15:17 and 15:19).

He was a standard of wisdom to whom King Solomon is compared favorably. Called there "Ethan the Ezrahite," to whom the title of Psalm 89 ascribes the authorship of that poem.[2]

A "son of Kishi" or "Kishaiah," of the Merarite branch of Levites, and also, with Heman and Asaph, placed by King David over the service of song (1 Chronicles 6:44; 1 Chronicles 15:17, 19).

An ancestor of Asaph of the Gershonite branch of the Levites (1 Chronicles 6:42).

See also

References
  1. Hieron. Trad. Heb. in 2 Reg. fol. 80. 1, quoted in Gill, J., Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible on 1 Kings 4, accessed 25 September 2017
  2. 1 Kings 4:31

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