Bible Encyclopedias

am´i -el ( עמּיאל , ‛ammı̄'ēl , "my kinsman is God"; Ἀμειήλ , Ameiḗl ): A name borne by four men in the Old Testament.

(1) One of the twelve spies sent into Canaan by Moses; son of Gemalli, of the tribe of Dan (Numbers 13:12 ).

(2) A B enjamite, the father of Machir, a friend of David, living at Lodebar in Gilead (2 Samuel 9:4 , 2 Samuel 9:5 ; 2 Samuel 17:27 ).

(3) Father of Bathshua (or Bathsheba), one of David's wives, who was mother of Solomon (1 Chronicles 3:5 ). In the parallel passage, 2 Samuel 11:3 , by transposition of the two parts of the name, he is called Eliam, meaning "my God is a kinsman."

(4) The sixth son of Obed-edom, a Levite, one of the doorkeepers of the tabernacle of God in David's life-time (1 Chronicles 26:5 ).