Abishua

Abishua (Heb. av-shua, father of welfare or my father is salvation — the same root as *Joshua and Yeshua/Jesus*) is the name of two distinct men in the Old Testament.

**1. Son of Phinehas, fourth high priest of Israel (1 Chronicles 6:4-5, 50; Ezra 7:5).** This Abishua was a grandson of Eleazar and great-grandson of Aaron, by descent through Phinehas — the priest who turned away the LORD's wrath at Baal-Peor by striking down Zimri and Cozbi (Numbers 25). Ezra's own priestly genealogy in Ezra 7:1-5 traces back through Abishua to Phinehas, Eleazar, and Aaron, establishing his place in the high-priestly line. The Samaritan tradition gives Abishua an outsized role in the transmission of the Pentateuch — the Samaritans claim their oldest manuscript (the Abishua Scroll) was inscribed by his hand, a tradition that has no historical basis but signals the weight of his name in the priestly memory.

**2. Son of Bela, of the tribe of Benjamin (1 Chronicles 8:4).** Listed in the Benjamite genealogy as one of the sons of Bela, the firstborn of Benjamin. Nothing else is recorded.