the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Bible Encyclopedias
Abel-Meholah
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (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.
ADDENDUM FROM VOLUME 11:
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).
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Abel-Meholah'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/a/abel-meholah.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
