Difference between revisions of "Abel-Meholah"

<p> '''Abel-Meholah''' (''Â'Bel-Me-Hô'Lah'' ), ''Meadow Of The Dance.'' &nbsp;Judges 7:22. A town in the plain of Jordan, distinguished as the home of Elisha. &nbsp;1 Kings 4:12; &nbsp;1 Kings 19:16. </p>

<p> (Heb. Abel' Mecholah', מְחוֹלָה אָבֵל, ''Meadow Of Dancing;'' Sept. Ἀβελμεουλά and Ἀβελμαουλά, Vul. ''Abelmehula'' and ''Abelneuel),'' a place not far from the Jordan, on the confines of [[Issachar]] and Manasseh, in the vicinity of Beth-shittah, Zeredah, and Tabbath, whither Gideon's three hundred picked men pursued the routed Midianites (&nbsp;Judges 7:22). It was the birthplace or residence of Elisha the prophet (&nbsp;1 Kings 19:16), and lay not far from Beth-shean (&nbsp;1 Kings 4:12); according to [[Eusebius]] ''(Onomast. Βηθμαελά),'' in the plain of the Jordan, 16 (Jerome 10) Roman miles south, probably the same with the village ''Abelmea'' mentioned by [[Jerome]] ''(Ibid.'' Eusebius less correctly Ἀβὲλ νεά ) as situated between [[Scythopolis]] (Bethshean) and [[Neapolis]] (Shechem). It is also alluded to by [[Epiphanius]] (whose text has inaccurately Ἀβελμούδ v. ''R. Ἀμεμουήλ,'' and wrongly locates it in the tribe of Reuben), and (as Ἀβελμαούλ ) in the ''Pas(Kal Chronicle'' (see Reland, ''Palest.'' p. 522). It was probably situated not far from where the [[Wady]] el-Maleh (which seems to retain a trace of the name) emerges into the Aulon or valley of the Jordan; perhaps at the ruins now called ''Khurbet Esh-Skul','' which are on an undulating plain beside a stream (Van de Velde, Narrative. 2:340). This appears to agree with the conjectural location assigned by Schwarz (Palest. p. 159), although the places he names do not occur on any map. </p> <p> ADDENDUM FROM [[Volume]] 11: </p> <p> Tristram conjectures this to be "a spot now called Sher-habiel, a trace of the name lingering in the neighboring Wady Maleh" (Bible Places p. 229);. while Lieut. Conder locates it at "a place now called [[Ain]] Helweh, in the Jordan valley, to which the direct road led past [[Shunem]] down the valley of Jezreel' (Tent Work, 1, 124). </p>

<p> '''''ā´bel''''' -'''''mē̇''''' -'''''hō´lah''''' ( אבל מחולה , <i> ''''''ābhēl meḥōlāh''''' </i> , "meadow of dancing"): The residence of Elisha the prophet (&nbsp;1 Kings 19:16 ). When Gideon and his 300 broke their pitchers in the camp of Midian, the Midianites in their first panic fled down the valley of [[Jezreel]] and the Jordan "toward Zererah" (&nbsp;Judges 7:22 ). [[Zererah]] (Zeredah) is [[Zarethan]] (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 4:17; compare &nbsp;1 Kings 7:46 ), separated from [[Succoth]] by the clay ground where Solomon made castings for the temple. The wing of the Midianites whom Gideon pursued crossed the Jordan at Succoth (&nbsp;Judges 8:4 ). This would indicate that Abel-meholah was thought of as a tract of country with a "border," West of the Jordan, some miles South of Beth-shean, in the territory either of Issachar or West Manasseh. </p> <p> Abel-meholah is also mentioned in connection with the jurisdiction of Baana, one of Solomon's twelve commissary officers (&nbsp;1 Kings 4:12 ) as below Jezreel, with Beth-shean and Zarethan in the same list. </p> <p> Jerome and Eusebius speak of Abel-meholah as a tract of country and a town in the Jordan valley, about ten Roman miles South of Beth-shean. At just that point the name seems to be perpetuated in that of the Wady Malib, and Abel-meholah is commonly located near where that Wady, or the neighboring Wady Helweh, comes down into the Jordan valley. </p> <p> Presumably [[Adriel]] the [[Meholathite]] (&nbsp;1 Samuel 18:19; &nbsp;2 Samuel 21:8 ) was a resident of Abel-meholah. </p>