abiezer Summary and Overview
Bible Dictionaries at a Glance
abiezer in Schaff's Bible Dictionary
ABIE'ZER (the father of help, i. e. helpful), the eldest son of Gilead, Josh 17:2; Num 26:30; or of a sister of Gilead, 1 Chr 7:18; founded a family at Ophrah, from which sprang Gideon. Jud 8:32.
abiezer in Fausset's Bible Dictionary
("father of help".) 1. Oldest son of Gilead, descendant of Manasseh; head of a leading family, of which were Joash and Gideon (Judges 6:11-24; Judges 6:34; Judges 8:2). Gideon soothed the wounded vanity of Ephraim when upbraiding him for not having called in their aid against Midian, saying "Is not the grape of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?" (Joshua 17:2.) The form is Jeezer in Numbers 26:30, but (See JEEZER. Originally Abiezer's family must have been E. of Jordan. In 1 Chronicles 7:18 Abiezer is made son of Gilead's sister. The family must have afterward passed to the W. of Jordan; for Joash the Abiezrite lived in Ophrah, which seems to have been on a hill, facing from the S. the Esdraelon plain, the scene of so many contests. 2. 2 Samuel 23:27.