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Elisheba (/əˈlɪʃɪbə/; (original) Hebrew: אֱלִישֶׁבַע‎, romanized: ’Ělīševa‘) was the wife of Aaron, the older brother of Moses and the first High Priest of Israel. She was mentioned once in Exodus 6:23 in the Torah and the Old Testament.^[1][2]

In the book of Exodus, she was said to be a daughter of Amminadab from the Tribe of Judah and a sister of Nahshon.^[4] The Hebrew name Elisheva is composed of two parts: “Eli”, from Elohim (Hebrew: אֱלֹהִים‎), one of the Hebrew words for God, and “sheva”, which roughly translates to “oath”.^[5][6] Thus, the name Elisheva translated into English means “God is my oath”^[7] or “my God is an oath”.^[8]

The Torah mentions that Elisheba and Aaron had four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.^[4] As per halakha, in order for a Jewish person to be legitimately recognized as one of the Kohanim (Hebrew: כֹּהֲנִים‎) and a member of the priestly lineage/bloodline, they must be a Levite of direct patrilineal descent from Eleazar and Ithamar, the two youngest sons of Aaron and Elisheba (i.e. be descendants of Aaron on both sides of the family).^[9][10][11]

In the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament, a woman named Elisabet (Greek: Ἐλισάβετ) is said to have been a descendant of Aaron and the wife of Zechariah, who was also a Jewish priest.^[12] Elisabet was a relative of Jesus‘ mother, Mary,^[13] and was the mother of John the Baptist with Zechariah.^[14]

Elizabeth is the common English-language variant of Elisabet, which is derived from Elisheva.^[15][16]

Isabel is the Spanish and Portuguese version of the name Elisheva or Elizabeth in English.^[17]

Elisabetta is the Italian version of Elizabeth,^[18] while Isabella is the Italian version of Elisheva.^[19][20]

Alishba is a modern name that is believed to have been derived from an Arabic-language translation of Elisheva.^[21] It is prevalent among Muslims in the Indian subcontinent.^[22]