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Ethan (biblical figure)
Biblical character / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ethan (Hebrew: אֵיתָן, Modern: ʾĒtan, Tiberian: ʾĒṯān, "Firm") the Ezrahite, is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Ethan was a boy at King David's court well known for his wisdom. He authored Psalms 89: this Psalm is entitled "a maschil or contemplation of Ethan the Ezrahite". Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon theorised that this was the same person as Jeduthun.[citation needed] Theologian John Gill refers to a Jewish tradition which identifies Ethan with Abraham, Heman with Moses, and Chalcol with Joseph.[1][2]
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Ethan means strong and optimistic, solid and enduring, permanent. The name Ethan appears eight times in the Hebrew Bible (1 Kings 4:31, Psalm. 89 title, 1 Chronicles. 2:6 and 2:8, 1 Chronicles. 6:42 and 6:44, and 1 Chronicles. 15:17 and 15:19).
He was a standard of wisdom to whom King Solomon is compared favorably. Called there "Ethan the Ezrahite," to whom the title of Psalm 89 ascribes the authorship of that poem.[3]
A "son of Kishi" or "Kishaiah," of the Merarite branch of Levites, and also, with Heman and Asaph, placed by King David over the service of song (1 Chronicles 6:44; 1 Chronicles 15:17, 19).
An ancestor of Asaph of the Gershonite branch of the Levites (1 Chronicles 6:42).