Eder

E’der. (a flock).

1. One of the towns of Judah, in the extreme south, and on the borders of Edom. Jos 15:21. No trace of it has been discovered in modern times.

2. A Levite, of the family of Merari, in the time of David. 1Ch 23:23; 1Ch 24:30.

("flock".)

1. A town in S. of Judah, on Edom’s border (Jos 15:21).

2. A Levite of Merari’s family in the time of David (1Ch 23:23).

(Hebrews id. עֵדֶר, a flock, as often), the name of a place and also of a man. SEE EDAR; SEE ADER.

1. (Sept. Ε᾿δραίν,Vat. MS. omits; Vulg. Eder.) A city in the extreme south of Judah, on the Idumaean border, mentioned between Kabzeel and Jagur (Jos 15:21); therefore, doubtless, one of those afterwards assigned to Simeon. Schwa z suggests (Palest. page 99) that it may be the same with ARAD SEE ARAD (q.v.), by a transposition of letters; but this is doubtful. Possibly it was situated on the eminence north of the fountain marked as "water" on Van de Velde’s Map, in wady el-Ernez, S.W. of the Dead Sea.

2. (Sept. Ε᾿δέρ Vulg. Eder.) The second named of the three "sons" (i.e. descendants) of Mushi appointed to the Levitical offices in the time of David (1Ch 23:23; 1Ch 24:30). B.C. 1013.

[E’der]

1. Town in the south of Judah. Jos 15:21.

2. Son of Mushi and grandson of Merari. 1Ch 23:23; 1Ch 24:30.

EDER.—1. Gen 35:21 ‘And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder.’ ’Eder means ‘a flock’; and the phrase Midgal-eder (‘flock-tower,’ cf. Mic 4:8) would have been the appellation given to a tower occupied by shepherds for the protection of their flocks against robbers (cf. 2Ki 18:8, 2Ch 26:10). The tower here mentioned lay between Bethlehem and Hebron (cf. vv. 19, 27). Jerome mentions a Jewish tradition that this Eder was the site of the Temple, but himself prefers to think that it was the spot on which the shepherds received the angels’ message. 2. Jos 15:21. The name of one of the towns of Judah ‘in the south,’ close to the Edomite frontier; perhaps Kh. el-‘Adâr, 5 miles S. of Gaza. 3. 1Ch 23:23; 1Ch 24:30. The name of a Merarite Levite in the days of David. 4. A Benjamite (1Ch 8:15).

ē´dẽr (עדר, ‛ēdher, “flock”):

(1) One of the “uttermost cities” of Judah in the Negeb (“South”) near the border of Edom (Jos 15:21), possibly Kḣ el ‛Adar, 5 miles South of Gaza, but probably this is too far west. (2) Eder (the King James Version Edar) or better Migdal Eder, מגדּל־עדר, mighdal ‛ēdher, “the tower of the flock”; Γάδερ, Gádeř. After Rachel died and was buried “in the way to Ephrath (the same is Bethlehem) ... Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder” (Gen 35:19, Gen 35:21). In Gen 35:27 he is described as proceeding to Hebron. This “tower of the flock,” which may have been only a tower and no town, must therefore be looked for between Bethlehem and Hebron. Jerome says that it was one Roman mile from Bethlehem. In the Septuagint, however, Gen 35:16 and Gen 35:21 are transposed, which suggests that there may have been a tradition that Migdal Eder was between Bethel and Bethlehem. There must have been many such towers for guarding flocks against robbers. Compare “tower of the watchman” (2Ki 18:8, etc.). The phrase “Migdal Eder” occurs in Mic 4:8 where Jerusalem is compared to such a tower.