Hebrew word · H65

אָבֵל מְחוֹלָה

mecholah

Abel-meholah

Compound place name. 'Abel' is a meadow or watercourse. 'Meḥolah' comes from the root for dancing or whirling (compare meḥolah, 'dance', in Exod 15:20). So possibly 'meadow of dancing' or 'meadow of Meholah'.

Appears 6 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Abel Meholah = "meadow of dancing"

a city of Issachar, birthplace of Elisha

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Kings 4:12

Range of meaning

Compound place name. 'Abel' is a meadow or watercourse. 'Meḥolah' comes from the root for dancing or whirling (compare meḥolah, 'dance', in Exod 15:20). So possibly 'meadow of dancing' or 'meadow of Meholah'.

Against the English

All versions transliterate it. The meaning of the name is lost in English, but it has no bearing on the sense of this verse.

Used elsewhere in the period

Judg 7:22 (Midianites flee toward its border); 1 Kgs 19:16 (Elisha's home); 1 Sam 18:19 and 2 Sam 21:8 ('the Meholathite').

Where it appears

Judges · 2

  1. Judges 7:22 אָבֵ֥ל מְחוֹלָ֖ה Abel, Meholah

    And when the three hundred rams’ 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.

    Here: First part of the name Abel-meholah, a well-watered spot in the Jordan valley. It was later Elisha's hometown (1 Kings 19:16).

1 Kings · 4

  1. 1 Kings 4:12 אָבֵ֣ל מְחוֹלָ֔ה Abel, Meholah

    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;

    Here: First part of Abel-meholah. 'Abel' in place names usually means a well-watered meadow or stream bed.

  2. 1 Kings 19:16 מֵאָבֵ֣ל מְחוֹלָ֔ה from Abel, Meholah

    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.

    Here: 'From' plus the first half of the place name. Abel probably means 'meadow' or 'watercourse.'

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.