Eldad (Hebrew: אֶלְדָּד, Modern: ’Eldad, Tiberian: ’Eldāḏ) and Medad (Hebrew: מֵידָד, Modern: Mēdad, Tiberian: Mēḏāḏ) are mentioned in the Book of Numbers, and are described as having prophesied among the Israelites, despite the fact that they had remained in the camp, while 70 elders had gone to the tabernacle outside the camp to receive the ability to prophesy from God.
[3][4] Some classical rabbinical literature argues that the non-Jews would be at the mercy of the Jewish Messiah;[5] such Messianic connections of Eldad and Medad also circulated among early Christian groups, and a particularly popular discussion of such prophecy was even quoted in the apocryphal Shepherd of Hermas.
[6] According to other Rabbinic sources they predicted God's forthcoming sending of the quail in response to the Israelites's complaining of hunger in Exodus 13:16.
[8] However, the text states that Eldad and Medad "were of them that were written down",[9] making them less representative of the general population, although some textual scholars believe that this is a gloss added to the original Elohist[8][10] account, by a later editor who objected to the idea that anyone could become a prophet.
[8] The names themselves are hence unimportant to the point of the story, and may have been chosen simply for the sake of assonance;[8] they seem to refer to dad, suggesting polytheism and/or a non-Israelite origin: According to Jewish tradition, Eldad and Medad were buried in the same cave in Edrei.