Eldad and Medad

{{Short description|Israeli prophets}}

Eldad ({{hebrew Name|אֶלְדָּד|’Eldad|’Eldāḏ}}) and Medad ({{hebrew Name|מֵידָד|Mēdad|Mēḏāḏ}}) are mentioned in the Book of Numbers, and are described as having prophesied among the Israelites, despite the fact that they had remained in the camp, while 70 elders had gone to the tabernacle outside the camp to receive the ability to prophesy from God.{{bibleverse|Numbers|11:24–26}} According to the narrative, Joshua asked Moses to forbid Eldad and Medad from prophecy, but Moses argued that it was a good thing that others could prophesy, and that ideally all the Israelites would prophesy.{{bibleverse|Numbers|11:27–29}}

In rabbinical tradition, there are a number of opinions as to what Eldad and Medad prophesized. According to one source they are said to have predicted a war with Gog and Magog, with the king from Magog uniting the non-Jews and launching war in Israel against the Jews, but these non-Jews being defeated and slain by fire from the Throne of God.Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Numbers 11:26Sanhedrin 17a Some classical rabbinical literature argues that the non-Jews would be at the mercy of the Jewish Messiah;Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Numbers 11:26 such Messianic connections of Eldad and Medad also circulated among early Christian groups, and a particularly popular discussion of such prophecy was even quoted in the apocryphal Shepherd of Hermas.Hermas (visions):2:3 According to other Rabbinic sources they predicted God's forthcoming sending of the quail in response to the Israelites's complaining of hunger in {{Bibleverse|Exodus|13:16|KJV}}. Lastly according to the other source, which Rashi quotes, they predicted that Moses would pass and Joshua would lead the children of Israel into the Land of Israel.

The unique Greek quotation is in the Visions of The Shepherd of Hermas 2.3.4, which Latin, Ethiopic, and Coptic versions are derived from.E. G. Martin, Eldad and Medad (Prior to the Second Century A.D.). A New Translation and Introduction, in James H. Charlesworth (1985), The Old Testament Pseudoepigrapha, Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company Inc., Volume 2, {{ISBN|0-385-09630-5}} (Vol. 1), {{ISBN|0-385-18813-7}} (Vol. 2), p. 463.

According to biblical scholars, the real purpose of the story was to indicate that prophecy was not restricted to a select few people.Cheyne and Black, Encyclopedia Biblica However, the text states that Eldad and Medad "were of them that were written down",{{bibleverse|Numbers|11:26}} making them less representative of the general population, although some textual scholars believe that this is a gloss added to the original ElohistPeake's commentary on the Bible account, by a later editor who objected to the idea that anyone could become a prophet. The names themselves are hence unimportant to the point of the story, and may have been chosen simply for the sake of assonance; they seem to refer to {{transliteration|hbo|dad}}, suggesting polytheism and/or a non-Israelite origin:

• if the names are Hebrew, then {{transliteration|hbo|dad}} could mean 'paternal uncle', with {{transliteration|hbo|Eldad}} thus meaning 'God is the brother of my father' or 'El is the brother of my father', and {{transliteration|hbo|Medad}} meaning '(one who is) of my father's brother'
• if the names are Assyrian, then {{transliteration|hbo|dad}} could be a corruption of {{transliteration|akk|daddu}}, meaning 'beloved', with {{transliteration|akk|Eldad}} thus meaning 'God is beloved' or 'El is beloved', and {{transliteration|akk|Medad}} meaning 'object of affection'
• if the names are Akkadian, then {{transliteration|hbo|dad}} could be a corruption of {{transliteration|akk|Adad}}, the name of a deity known to the Aramaeans as {{transliteration|akk|Hadad}}, with {{transliteration|akk|Eldad}} thus meaning 'El is Hadad' or 'Hadad is God', and {{transliteration|akk|Medad}} meaning '(one who is) of Hadad'

According to Jewish tradition, Eldad and Medad were buried in the same cave in Edrei.Burial Places of the Fathers, published by Yehuda Levi Nahum in book: Ṣohar la-ḥasifat ginzei teiman (Heb. צהר לחשיפת גנזי תימן), Tel-Aviv 1986, p. 253