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Person Old Testament

Eliab

Eliab, a Reubenite, was the father of Dathan and Abiram, who rebelled against Moses. Mentioned in 5 verses across 2 books, first at Numbers 16:1.

Why it matters. Reubenite, father of Dathan and Abiram

Last reviewed
2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team

About Eliab

Eliab, a member of the tribe of Reuben, is mentioned in Num.16.1,12; 26.8,9; and Deu.11.6 as the father of Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram, along with Korah, led a rebellion against the leadership of Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. They challenged the authority of Moses and Aaron, claiming that all the congregation was holy (Num.16.1-3). Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, but they refused to appear before him (Num.16.12-14). As a result, God caused the earth to open up and swallow the rebels and their households (Num.16.31-33). Eliab's sons, Dathan and Abiram, perished in this divine judgment (Num.26.9; Deu.11.6). The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram serves as a warning against challenging God's appointed leaders.

Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.

Connections

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Family

Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.

Parents
Pallu

Appears in Scripture

Named in 5 verses across 2 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.

Record type: Person. FaithGraph explanations on this page are editorial and are not Scripture.