Elasah

ELASAH (Heb. אֶלְעָשָׂה; "God has made"), son of *Shaphan, and one of Zedekiah's emissaries to Nebuchadnezzar, who brought the letter written by Jeremiah to the elders in exile (Jer. 29:3). Elasah was a member of one of the most influential pro-Babylonian families in the last years of the Kingdom of Judah. Shaphan, his father, was the scribe of Josiah (II Kings 22:3ff.; et al.). His brother *Ahikam was one of the men sent by King Josiah to the prophetess Huldah (II Kings 22:12, 14; II Chron. 34:20). His other brother *Jaazaniah is mentioned in Ezekiel 8:11 among the elders of Jerusalem.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.