Ezer (Hastings' Dictionary)

1. (isK) A Horite 'duke' (Gn 36", 1 Ch 1"). In tlie latter passage AV has Ezar. 2. (ijx) A son of Ephraim who, ace. to 1 Cli 7"', was slain by the men of Gath. 3. A Judaliite (1 Ch 4). i. A Gadite chief who joined David (1 Ch 12»). 5. A son of Jeshua who helped to repair the wall (Neh 3"). 6. A priest who officiated at the dedication of the walls (Neh 12»). J. A. Selbie. EZION-GEBER, ija jVyi;;, is mentioned amongst the stations of the Israelites (Nu 33" and Dt 2"). In the latter passage and elsewhere in the OT it is coupled with Elath in such a way as to imply that the one was in the immediate neighbour- hood of the other. This circumstance enables us to fix the situation of Ezion-geber with tolerable confulence. It lay in the extreme south of the territory of Edom, at the head of the jElanitis Sinus or Gulf of Akabah. Edom having been sub- ju^'ated by David (2 S 8'), Solomon naturally utilized E. for shipbuilding purposes, and made it the port for his navy, which was engaged in the gold traiie with Ophir (1 K ff). His success encouraged Jehoshaphat to undertake a similar enterprise, but with disastrous results. ' Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to "o to Ophir for gold ; but they went not, for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber' (1 K 2>« and 2 Ch 20'-»'). Ezion-geber is men- tioned also by Josephus (Ant. VIII. vi. 4), who tells ns that it was afterAvards known by the name of Berenice. E. is prob. the modern Ain el-Ghudyan (I'obinson, i. I(i9f.). See further, Driver on Dt 2*. J. A. Selbie.