Who was Abiram?

The story of Abiram

Two men in the Bible are named Abiram. The first is a Reubenite who joined Korah's rebellion against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The second is the firstborn son of Hiel the Bethelite, who rebuilt Jericho.

Abiram the son of Eliab belonged to the tribe of Reuben. His brothers were Dathan and Nemuel (Numbers 26:8-9). With Dathan and On the son of Peleth, he joined Korah the Levite, son of Izhar, in rising up against Moses and Aaron (Numbers 16:1).

When Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, they refused to come (Numbers 16:12). They accused Moses of bringing them out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill them in the wilderness, and of making himself a prince over them (Numbers 16:13-14). Moses then went to their tents with the elders of Israel.

The congregation was told to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and the two brothers stood in their tent doors with their wives and children (Numbers 16:24-27). The ground split open and swallowed them, their households, and all that they had, and they went down alive into the pit (Numbers 16:31-33). Numbers recalls them as famous in the congregation, men who strove against the LORD (Numbers 26:9).

Moses later reminded Israel of this judgment (Deuteronomy 11:6), and a psalm recalls how the earth covered the company of Abiram (Psalms 106:17). Abiram the son of Hiel lived in the days of King Ahab. Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho and laid its foundation in Abiram his firstborn, and he set up its gates in his youngest son Segub (1 Kings 16:34).

This fulfilled the curse Joshua spoke over anyone who would rebuild the city (Joshua 6:26).

Name meaning

My father is exalted

Name origin

Hebrew

First mention

Numbers 16:1

Appearances in the Bible

9 mentions

Questions about Abiram