Ebed-melech (Hastings' Dictionary)

An Ethiop. eunuch, at whose intercession and by whose personal exertions Jeremiah was released from the pit- prison of Malchiah. For this kindly service E. was promised immunity from the fate of his companions at the capture of Jems. (Jer 38'*- SQ""-). It is pos- sible that the name E., which means 'servant of [the] king,' may have been an official title. A verr ancient seal (see fig. on p. 258 of Benzinger's Beb. Arch.) is inscribed 'Obadiah servant of the king' (Obadfahu 'ebhed hammelekh).

More probable, however, is the view of Gray {Heb. Prop. Names, 117, 147), who takes Melech as a di\ane name. J. A. Selbie. EBENEZER (\iJ2ij px or ijn.t 'Stone of help'). —Mentioned three times in 1 S. According to 4' 5' it is the scene of a great defeat of the Isr.

at the hands of the Phil, in the time of Eli, while in 7" it is the name of a stone set up by Samuel to com- memorate a great victory over the Philistines ; it is further noticeable that in 7" the name is appar- ently given for the first time, though the victory there described happened some twenty years after the events of ch. 4' 5'. In 7", which belongs to a somewhat later document, E.

is placed under Beth-car, and between Mizpah and Hasshen ('the tooth ') ; but we must here follow the LXX (r^« xaXaias), and read ' between Mizpah and Jashan (or Jeshanah ) ' ; the latter (cf. 2 Ch 13'") is probably the modem "Ain Sinia, to the N. of Bethel. On this view, E. would lie somewhere at the head of the valley of Aijalon ; this site is further favoured by the notice in 4"-. The more generally accepted theory, however, places E.

more to the south, at the head of the vale of Sorek, and either identities the stone set up by Samuel with the great stone at Bethsheraesh (6") or places it in the immediate neighbourhood. But this identification does not suit 7", and is hardly compatible witli the narra- tive of 4'-7'. See G. A. Smith, lfi.9t. Geogr. p. 223 f. J. F. Stennino.