1. Joshua 14:1 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Who was Eleazar the priest?

Joshua 14:1 (ESV)

1 These are the inheritances that the people of Israel received in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel gave them to inherit.

Eleazar was Aaron’s son and he served as high priest at the time of the allotment (Exodus 6:25; Numbers 20:26–28). He also exercised some important duties earlier in the wilderness (Numbers 3:4, Numbers 3:32; Numbers 4:16; Numbers 16:37, Numbers 16:39; Numbers 27:18–23) and is one of the individuals specifically mentioned as having been buried in the Promised Land (Joshua 24:33). According to Numbers 34:16–29, Joshua, Eleazar, and one leader per tribe were to distribute the land.