Elisheba (; (original) ) was the wife of

Aaron According to the Old Testament of the Bible, Aaron ( or ) was an Israelite prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of Moses. Information about Aaron comes exclusively from religious texts, such as the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament ...

, the older brother of

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

and the first High Priest of Israel. She was mentioned once in Exodus 6:23 in the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

and the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

In the Torah

In the

book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from ; ''Šəmōṯ'', 'Names'; ) is the second book of the Bible. It is the first part of the narrative of the Exodus, the origin myth of the Israelites, in which they leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of ...

, she was said to be a daughter of

Amminadab Amminadab () is a minor character referred to in the Book of Exodus. He is the father-in-law of High Priest Aaron, brother of Moses. Amminadab is also mentioned in the Book of Ruth (and also in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke) as ...

from the

Tribe of Judah According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe of Judah (, ''Shevet Yehudah'') was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel, named after Judah (son of Jacob), Judah, the son of Jacob. Judah was one of the tribes to take its place in Canaan, occupying it ...

and a sister of Nahshon. The Hebrew name ''Elisheva'' is composed of two parts: "Eli", from

Elohim ''Elohim'' ( ) is a Hebrew word meaning "gods" or "godhood". Although the word is plural in form, in the Hebrew Bible it most often takes singular verbal or pronominal agreement and refers to a single deity, particularly but not always the Go ...

(

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: ), one of the Hebrew words for

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

, and "sheva", which roughly translates to "oath". Thus, the name ''Elisheva'' translated into English means "God is my oath" or "my God is an oath". The

mentions that Elisheba and Aaron had four sons: Nadab,

Abihu In the biblical books of Book of Exodus, Exodus, Book of Leviticus, Leviticus and Book of Numbers, Numbers, Nadab () and Avihu () were the two oldest sons of Aaron. According to Shemini (parashah), Third reading—Leviticus 9:24–10:11, Leviticu ...

Eleazar Eleazar (; ) or Elazar was a priest in the Hebrew Bible, the second High Priest, succeeding his father Aaron after he died. He was a nephew of Moses. Biblical narrative Eleazar played a number of roles during the course of the Exodus, from ...

, and

Ithamar In the Bible, Ithamar () was the fourth (and the youngest) son of Aaron the High Priest."Ithamar", '' Encyclopaedia Biblica'' Following the construction of the Tabernacle, he was responsible for recording an inventory to ensure that the construc ...

. As per ''

halakha ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...

'', in order for a Jewish person to be legitimately recognized as one of the Kohanim () and a member of the priestly lineage/bloodline, they must be a Levite of direct patrilineal descent from Eleazar and Ithamar, the two youngest sons of Aaron and Elisheba (i.e. be descendants of Aaron on both sides of the family).

In the Christian Bible

In the first chapter of the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, a woman named Elisabet () is said to have been a descendant of Aaron and the wife of Zechariah, who was also a Jewish priest. Elisabet was a relative of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

' mother, Mary, and was the mother of

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

with Zechariah.

Derivations of the Name

In English

''Elizabeth'' is the common

English-language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

variant of '' Elisabet'', which is derived from ''Elisheva''.

In Spanish/Portuguese

'' Isabel'' is the Spanish and Portuguese version of the name ''Elisheva'' or ''Elizabeth'' in English.

In Italian

''Elisabetta'' is the Italian version of ''Elizabeth,'' while ''Isabella'' is the Italian version of ''Elisheva''.

In the Muslim world

''Alishba'' is a modern name that is believed to have been derived from an Arabic-language translation of ''Elisheva''. It is prevalent among Muslims in the Indian subcontinent.

References

{{reflist Women in the Hebrew Bible Family of Aaron and Moses Tribe of Judah Book of Exodus people