Elkosh, the hometown of the prophet Nahum, probably located in Judah.
Elkosh is mentioned only once in the Bible, in Nam.1.1, as the hometown of the prophet Nahum. No other details about the town are provided in the biblical text. Nahum's prophecy is primarily an oracle against the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, foretelling its destruction due to its wickedness and cruelty.
The exact location of Elkosh is unknown. Some scholars propose that it may have been in the region of Galilee, while others suggest it was in the southern kingdom of Judah. Another theory is that Elkosh was actually in Assyria, and that Nahum lived among the exiles there. However, the content of Nahum's prophecy, with its focus on Judah's deliverance from Assyrian oppression, makes a Judean location more likely.
Regardless of its exact location, Elkosh was significant as the birthplace of one of God's prophets who declared His judgment against a powerful enemy nation and His mercy toward His people.
God my bow, the birth-place of Nahum the prophet (Nah. 1:1). It was probably situated in Galilee, but nothing definite is known of it.
(God my bow), the birthplace of the prophet Nahum, hence called “the Elkoshite.” (Nahum 1:1) This place is located at the modern Alkush, a village on the east bank of the Tigris, about two miles north of Mosul. Some think a small village in Galilee is intended.
EL'KOSH (God my bow). Nahum is called "the Elkoshite," Nah 1:1, from which it is inferred that Elkosh was his birthplace. The traditional tomb of that prophet is in Assyria, about 2 miles north of Mosul, at a place called Alkush, a town of 300 families. Grove and others, however, place Elkosh in Galilee.
EL'KOSH (God my bow). Nahum is called "the Elkoshite," Nah 1:1, from which it is inferred that Elkosh was his birthplace. The traditional tomb of that prophet is in Assyria, about 2 miles north of Mosul, at a place called Alkush, a town of 300 families. Grove and others, however, place Elkosh in Galilee.
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.
1 verse in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H0512
This is the burden against Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite:
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.