Eldad

Eldad (meaning favored of God or God has loved) was one of the seventy elders chosen by Moses at God's command to share the burden of leadership over Israel in the wilderness (Numbers 11:16–30). For reasons not explained in the text, Eldad and his companion Medad did not go out to the tabernacle when the Spirit came upon the seventy elders; instead, they remained in the camp — yet the Spirit rested upon them there and they prophesied among the people.

When Joshua son of Nun reported this to Moses and urged him to forbid them, Moses gave a remarkable response: "Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD's people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!" (Numbers 11:29). The episode is frequently cited in discussions of the Spirit's freedom and the democratization of prophecy, and it anticipates Joel's promise that God would pour out his Spirit on all flesh (Joel 2:28–29), fulfilled at Pentecost (Acts 2:16–18).