The Eshelby tensor (also referred to as the Maxwell tensor of elasticity, or the energy momentum tensor of elasticity, or the material momentum tensor), is being widely used in contracted form (e.g., with the unit normal vector) in the study of defect and fracture mechanics, most prominently as the integrand of the path-independent J-integral. However, the properties and the physical interpretation of the components of this tensor itself have remained seemingly unexplored. This contribution attempts to remedy this situation and presents a rather detailed discussion of the features of this tensor in the context of linearized elasticity.