in the tongue
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
BILSHAN (inquirer).A companion of Zerubbabel (Ezr_2:2, Neh_7:7 = Beelsarus, 1Es_5:8).
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
Ezr_2:2; Neh_7:7.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Bil'shan. (eloquent). One of Zerubbabel's companions, on his expedition from Babylon. Ezr_2:2; Neh_7:7. (B.C. 536).
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
bil?shan (בּלשׁן, bilshān): An Israelite who returned with Zerubbabel (Ezr_2:2 = Neh_7:7). The name may be explained as ?inquirer? (new Hebrew and Aramaic), בלשׁ, bālash, the (ב ?b? being an abbreviation of בּן, ben, as in בּדקר, bidhḳar, and בּמהל, bimhāľ. Bilshan would then be a compound of בּן, ben, and לשון, lāshōň. J. Hal?vy (Revue ?tudes juives, X, 3) translates the name ?p?re de la langue,? אב לשׁון, 'abh lāshōň. In 1 Esdras 5:8, he is called ?Beelsarus,? which is akin to the form ?Belshar? = ?Belshar-uṣṣur? or ?O Bel, protect the king.? Bilshan points to ?Belšun,? ?his lord.? The rabbis take Bilshan as a surname to the preceding Mordecai.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Bilshan
(Heb. Bilshan', בַּלְשָׁן, son of the tongue, i.e. eloquent; Sept. Βαλασάν and Βαλσάν), a man of I rank who returned from the Babylonian captivity with Zerubbabel (Ezr_2:2; Neh_7:7). B.C. 536.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.