Difference between revisions of "Abel-Meholah"

<p> <strong> ABEL-MEHOLAH </strong> (‘meadow of the dance <em> or </em> circle’). A place in the [[Jordan]] valley, the limit of Gideon’s pursuit of the [[Midianites]] ( Judges 7:22 ); in the administrative district of [[Taanach]] and [[Megiddo]] under [[Solomon]] ( 1 Kings 4:12 ); the native place of Adriel, husband of Merab, Saul’s daughter ( 1 Samuel 18:19 ), and of [[Elisha]] ( 1 Kings 19:16 ). The suggested identifications are uncertain. See Moore’s <em> Judges </em> , p. 212. </p> <p> R. A. S. Macalister. </p>

<p> ("the plain of the dance".) The birthplace of Elisha, where he was found at his plow by [[Elijah]] returning up the Jordan valley from [[Horeb]] (1 Kings 19:16). N. of the Jordan valley, S. of [[Bethshean]] (Scythopolis) (1 Kings 4:12). To its neighborhood fled the Midianites routed by [[Gideon]] (Judges 7:22). It pertained to the half tribe of Manasseh. </p>

<p> A'bel-meho'lah. (meadow of the dance). In the northern part of the Jordan valley, 1 Kings 4:12, to which the routed Bedouin host fled from Gideon, Judges 7:22. Here Elisha was found at his plough by Elijah returning up the valley from Horeb. 1 Kings 19:16-19. </p>

<p> [[Abel-Meholah]] (â'bel-me-hô'lah), meadow of the dance. Judges 7:22. A town in the plain of Jordan, distinguished as the home of Elisha. 1 Kings 4:12; 1 Kings 19:16. </p>

Judges 7:221 Kings 4:121 Kings 19:16

<p> The mourning of sickness. (Judges 7:22.) </p>

1 Kings 4:121 Kings 19:16

<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 (Judges 7:22). It was the birthplace or residence of Elisha the prophet (1 Kings 19:16), and lay not far from Beth-shean (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 (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" (Judges 7:22 ). [[Zererah]] (Zeredah) is [[Zarethan]] (2 Chronicles 4:17; compare 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 (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 (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]] (1 Samuel 18:19; 2 Samuel 21:8 ) was a resident of Abel-meholah. </p>

<p> Abel-Mea </p> <p> A´bel-Meho´lah, or Abel-Mea (Place of the dance), a town supposed to have stood near the Jordan, and some miles (Eusebius says ten) to the south of [[Bethshan]] or Scythopolis (1 Kings 4:12). It is remarkable in connection with Gideon's victory over the Midianites (Judges 7:22), and as the birth-place of Elisha (1 Kings 19:16). </p>