Elam (Person)

1. Firstborn son of Shem and a grandson of Noah (Gn 10:22; 1 Chr 1:17).

2. Benjamite and the son of Shashak (1 Chr 8:24).

3. Korahite Levite and the fifth son of Kore from the house of Asaph (1 Chr 26:3).

4. Forefather of 1,254 descendants who returned with Zerubbabel to Judah following the exile (Ezr 2:7; Neh 7:12). Later, 71 members of Elam’s house accompanied Ezra back to Palestine during the reign of King Artaxerxes I of Persia (464–424 BC; Ezr 8:7). In postexilic Judah, Shecaniah, Elam’s descendant, urged Ezra to command the sons of Israel to divorce their foreign wives (10:2); a number from Elam’s house eventually did so (v 26).

5. Another forefather of 1,254 descendants who returned with Zerubbabel to Judah (Ezr 2:31; Neh 7:34).

6. One of the chiefs of Israel who set his seal on Ezra’s covenant (Neh 10:14).

7. One of the priestly musicians who performed at the dedication of the Jerusalem wall (Neh 12:42).