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]

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 Gershomite 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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