Abel-meholah, a town in Israel, the birthplace of Elisha.
Also known as Abel Meholah
Abel-meholah was a town in Israel, located in the Jordan Valley, south of Beth-shean. It is first mentioned in Judges 7:22, where it is described as one of the places to which the Midianites fled after being defeated by Gideon. Later, in 1Ki.4.12, Abel-meholah is listed as part of the district overseen by Baana son of Ahilud, one of Solomon's twelve district governors. The town is most notable as the birthplace of the prophet Elisha, as mentioned in 1Ki.19.16, where God commands Elijah to anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah as his successor.
Approximate location: 32.356, 35.537 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
Meadow of dancing, or the dancing-meadow, the birth-place and residence of the prophet Elisha, not far from Beth-shean (1 Kings 4:12), in the tribe of Issachar, near where the Wady el-Maleh emerges into the valley of the Jordan, “the rich meadow-land which extends about 4 miles south of Beth-shean; moist and luxuriant.” Here Elisha was found at his plough by Elijah on his return up the Jordan valley from Horeb (1 Kings 19:16). It is now called ‘Ain Helweh.
mourning of sickness
A'BEL - MEHO'LAH (meadow of the dance), a place in the Jordan valley between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. 1 Kgs 4:12 . Gideon pursued the Midianites near it, Jud 7:22; and it was the home of Elisha. 1 Kgs 19:16. Van de Velde locates it 10 miles south of Bethshean; Conder, in Wadi Maleh, on the road from Beisan to the Jordan, at Aio Helweh.
A'BEL - MEHO'LAH (meadow of the dance), a place in the Jordan valley between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. 1 Kgs 4:12 . Gideon pursued the Midianites near it, Jud 7:22; and it was the home of Elisha. 1 Kgs 19:16. Van de Velde locates it 10 miles south of Bethshean; Conder, in Wadi Maleh, on the road from Beisan to the Jordan, at Aio Helweh.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
3 verses in 2 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H0065
And when the three hundred ramsʼ horns sounded, the LORD set all the men in the camp against one another with their swords. The army fled to Beth-shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.
Baana son of Ahilud in Taanach, in Megiddo, and in all of Beth-shean next to Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah and on past Jokmeam;
You are also to anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah to succeed you as prophet.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.