Moladah

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Mol'adah. (birth, race). A city of Judah, one of those which lay in the district of "the south." Joshua 15:26; Joshua 19:2, In the latter tribe, it remained at any rate, till the reign of David, 1 Chronicles 4:28, but by the time of the captivity, it seems to have come back into the hands of Judah, by whom it was reinhabited after the captivity. Nehemiah 11:26. It may be placed at el-Milh, which is about 4 English miles from Tell Arad, 17 or 18 English miles from Hebron, and 9 or 10 English miles due east of Beersheba.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

A city in southern Judah, next Edom (Joshua 15:26), given to Simeon (Joshua 19:2; 1 Chronicles 4:28). It reverted to Judah after the captivity (Nehemiah 11:25-26). Now Khirbet el Milh, a ruin with two wells, one dry, the other with water at a depth of more than 40 ft. On the road from Petra to Hebron, ten miles E. of Beersheba.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

MOLADAH. A city reckoned to Judah in Joshua 15:26 , and to Simeon in Joshua 19:2 , 1 Chronicles 4:28 . It is in no way related to Tell el-Milh , ‘hill of salt,’ with which Robinson and others have identified it. Probably it lay near Beersheba, but the site has not been recovered.

W. Ewing.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

City in the south of Judah: it was inhabited on the return from exile. Joshua 15:26; Joshua 19:2; 1 Chronicles 4:28; Nehemiah 11:26 . Identified by some with the ruins at Tell el Milh, 31 13' N, 35 1' E .

Holman Bible Dictionary

Joshua 15:26Joshua 19:21 Samuel 27:101 Chronicles 2:29Nehemiah 11:26

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Joshua 15:21-2619:2

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Moladah', מוֹלָדָה [in Nehemiah , מֹלָדָה ], birth; Sept. Μωλαδά v.r. Μωδαδά, etc.), a city in the southern part of the tribe of Judah towards the Edomitish border (Joshua 15:26), which fell within the portion set off to Simeon (Joshua 19:2; 1 Chronicles 4:28). It was also occupied after the exile (Nehemiah 11:26). Reland (Palaest. page 901) thinks it was the Malatha (Μάλαθα ) mentioned by Josephus (Ant. 18:6, 2) as a castle of Idurmaea, to which Agrippa retired in chagrin after his return from Rome. Eusebius and Jerome (Onomast. s.v. Ἀραμά ) allude to it (Μαλαθί ) as a place four Roman miles distant from Arad, which latter they describe as an ancient city of the Amorites situated in the wilderness of Kadesh, and twenty miles from Hebron, on the road to Aila (see Reland, Palaest. page 885). At a later period Malatha became a Roman colony (Reland, p. 231). Dr. Robinson (Researches, 2:621) finds the locality in the present el-Milh, first observed by Schubert (Reise, 2:454), consisting of extensive ruins with a well, situated at the required distance from the site of Arad (comp. Schwarz, Palest. page 100). The present name, signifying "salt," has little affinity with the Heb. appellation, but may be a corruption of it (Wilson, Lands of the Bible, 1:346; Van de Velde, Memoir, page 335; Ritter, Pal. und Syr. 1:124; Tristram, Land of Israel, page 369 sq.; Stewart, Tent and Khan, page 217).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

mol´a - da , mṓ - lā´da ( מולדה , mōlādhāh  ; Μωλαδά , Mōladá ): A place in the far south (Negebh) of Judah, toward Edom ( Joshua 15:26 ), reckoned to Simeon (Joshua 19:2; 1 Chronicles 4:28 ). It was repopulated after the captivity (Nehemiah 11:26 ). It is mentioned always in close proximity to Beersheba. Moladah is probably identical with Malatha, a city in Idumea to which Agrippa at one time withdrew himself (Josephus, Ant. , Xviii , vi, 2). The site of this latter city has by Robinson and others been considered to be the ruins and wells of Tell el - Milḥ , some 13 miles to the East of Beersheba and some 7 miles Southwest of Arad. The chief difficulty is the statement of Eusebius and Jerome that Malatha was "by Jattir," i.e. ‛Attir  ; if this is correct the Tell el - Milḥ is impossible, as it is 10 miles from ‛Attir , and we have no light at all on the site. See Salt , City Of . For Tell el-Milch see Pef , III, 415-16, Sh Xxv .