Elah

Elah, 1

E´lah, son of Baasha king of Israel. After a reign of two years (B.C. 930-929) he was assassinated while drunk, and all his kinsfolk and friends cut off, by Zimri, ’the captain of half his chariots.’ He was the last king of Baasha’s line, and by this catastrophe the predictions of the prophet Jehu were accomplished (1Ki 16:6-14).

Elah, 2

E´lah, a valley in which the Israelites were encamped when David fought Goliath (1Sa 17:19). It doubtless received this name from the terebinth trees, or from some remarkable terebinth tree, growing in it. Ecclesiastical traditions identify it with the present valley of Beit Hanina, about eight miles north-west from Jerusalem. In this valley olive trees and carob trees now prevail, and terebinth trees are few; but the brook is still indicated whence the youthful champion selected the ’smooth stones’ wherewith he smote the Philistine. The brook is dry in summer, but in winter it becomes a mighty torrent, which inundates the vale. Dr. Robinson, however, disputes this ancient tradition, and finds that the conditions of the history require him to identify the valley of Elah with the Wady es-Sumt (acacia valley), which he crossed on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, about eleven miles south-west from the former city. His reasons are given in Biblical Researches, iii. 350; and he remarks that the largest specimen of the terebinth tree which he saw in Palestine still stands in the vicinity.

1. A valley in which David slew Goliath, 1Sa 17:2,3,19 . It was probably about eleven miles southwest from Jerusalem.\par 2. Son and successor of Baasha, king of Israel, B. C. 926. After reigning two years, he was slain while intoxicated, by Zimri, one of his officers, who succeeded him as king. Zimri destroyed all the family of Baasha, according to the prediction of Jehu, 1Ki 16:6- 10.\par

E’lah. (an oak, strength).

1. The son and successor of Baasha, king of Israel. 1Ki 16:8-10. His reign lasted for a little more than a year; compare 1Ki 16:8 with 1Ki 16:10. (B.C. 928-7). He was killed, while drunk, by Zimri, in the house of his steward, Azra, who was probably a confederate in the plot.

2. Father of Hoshea, the last king of Israel. 2Ki 15:30; 2Ki 17:1. (B.C. 729 or before).

3. One of the dukes of Edom. Gen 36:41; 1Ch 1:52.

4. Shimei ben-Elah was Solomon’s commissariat officer in Benjamin. 1Ki 4:18. (B.C. 1013).

5. A son of Caleb, the son of Jephuneh. 1Ch 4:15. (B.C. 1450).

6. Son of Uzzi, a Benjamite, 1Ch 9:8, and one of the chiefs of the tribe, at the settlement of the country. (B.C. 536).

1. Baasha’s son and successor on the Israelite throne (1Ki 16:8-10); reigned little more than a year. A beacon to warn drunkards, killed by the captain of half his chariots, Zimri, while "drinking himself drunk" in the house of his steward Arza in Tirzah. Josephus (Ant. 8:12, section 4) says it occurred while his army and officers were absent at the siege of Gibbethon. As Baasha conspired against his master Nadab, so Zimri against Baasha’s son; Zimri in his turn was slain by Omri. Thus retributive justice pays transgressors in kind.

2. Father of Hoshea, last king of Israel (2Ki 15:30; 2Ki 17:1).

3. Duke of Edom (Gen 36:41); compare Elath on the Red Sea.

4. Father of Shimei, Solomon’s commissariat officer in Benjamin (1Ki 4:18).

5. Son of Caleb (1Ch 4:15).

6. Uzzi’s son, a chief of Benjamin (1Ch 9:8).

(Hebrews Elah’, אֵלָה, terebinth or oak [q.v.]), the name of a place, and also of five men.

1. The VALLEY OF ELAH- (עֵמֵק הָאֵלָה, vale of the terebinth or oak; Sept. ἡ κοιλὰς ᾿Ηλά, but translates ἡ κοιλὰς τῆς δρυός in 1Sa 17:2; 1Sa 17:19; Vulg. likewise vallis terebinthi), a valley in (not "by," as the A.V. has it) which the Israelites were encamped against the Philistines when David killed Goliath (1Sa 17:2; 1Sa 17:19; 1Sa 21:9). It lay somewhere near Shocoh of Judah, and Azekah, and was nearer Ekron than any other Philistine town (1Sa 17:1-58). Shocoh has been with great probability identified with Shuweikeh, near Beit Netif, some 14 miles S.W. of Jerusalem, on the road to Beit Jibrin and Gaza, among the more western of the hills of Judah, not far from where they begin to descend into the great Philistine plain. The village stands on the south slopes of the wady es-Sumt, or valley of the acacia, which runs off in a N.W. direction across the plain to the sea just above Ashdod. Above Shuweikeh it branches into two other wadys. Large, though inferior in size to itself, and the junction of the three forms a considerable open space of not less than a mile wide cultivated in fields of grain. In the center is a wide torrent bed thickly strewed with round pebbles, and bordered by the acacia bushes from which the valley derives its present name. There seems to le no reason to doubt that this is the Valley of the Terebinth. It has changed its name, and is now called after another kind of tree (the sumt, or acacia), but the terebinth (butm) appears to be plentiful in the neighborhood, and one of the largest specimens in Palestine still stands in the immediate neighborhood of the spot, in wady Sur, the southernmost of the branch wadys. Four miles E. of Shuweikeh, along wady Musur, the other branch, is the khan and ruined site Akbeh, which van de Velde proposes to identify with Azekah. These identifications are confirmed by that of Ephesdammim (q.v.), the site of the Philistine camp. Ekron is 17 miles, and Bethlehem 12 miles distant from Shocoh. (For the valley, see Robinson, Researches, 2:350; Van de Velde, Narrative, 2:191; Porter, Handbook, pages 249, 250, 280; Schwarz, Palest. page 77.)

There is a point in the topographical indications of 1Sa 17:1-58 which it is very desirable should be carefully examined on the spot. The Philistines were between Shocoh and Azekah, at Ephesdammim, or Pasdammim, on the mountain on the S. side of the wady, while the Israelites were in the "valley" (qemoi) of the terebinth, or, rather, on the mountain on the N. side, and "the ravine" or "the glen" (הִגִּיְאְ) was between the two armies (1Sa 17:2-3). Again (1Sa 17:52), the Israelites pursued the Philistines "till you come to ’the ravine’" (the same word). There is evidently a marked difference between the "valley" and the "ravine," and a little attention on the spot might do much towards elucidating this, and settling the identification of the place. In the above location, the distance between the armies was about a mile, and the vale beneath is flat and rich. The ridges rise on each side to the height of about 500 feet, and have a uniform slope, so that the armies ranged along them could see the combat in the vale. The Philistines, when defeated, fled down the valley towards Gath and Ekron.

The traditional "Valley of the Terebinth" is the wady Beit-Hanina, which lies about 4 miles to the N.W. of Jerusalem, and is crossed by the road to Nebi Samwil. The scene of David’s conflict is pointed out a little N. of the "Tombs of the Judges," and close to the traces of the old paved road. In this valley olive trees and carob-trees now prevail, and terebinth-trees are few; but the brook is still indicated whence the youthful champion selected the "smooth stones’"’ wherewith he smote the Philistine. The brook is dry in summer, but in winter it becomes a mighty torrent, which inundates the vale (Kitto, Pictorial Palestine, page 121). But this spot is in the tribe of Benjamin, and otherwise does not correspond with the narrative of the text (see Thenius, Sachs exeg. Stud. 2:151).

2. (Sept. ῾Ηλάς, but ᾿Ηλάς in Chron.; Vulg. Ella.) One of the Edomitish "dukes" or chieftains in Mount Seir (Gen 36:41; 1Ch 1:52), B.C. post 1963. By Knobel (Comment. zu Genesis in loc.) he is connected with Elath (q.v.) on the Red Sea.

3. (Sept. Α᾿δά v.r. Α᾿λά.) The middle one of the three sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh (1Ch 4:15), B.C. 1618. In that passage his sons are called Kenaz or Uknaz, but the words may be taken as if Kenaz was, with Elah, a son of Caleb. It is a singular coincidence that the names of both Elah and Kenaz also appear among the Edomitish "dukes."

4. (Properly ELA, Hebrews Ela’, אֵלָא; Sept. ᾿Ηλά.) The father of Shimei ben-Ela, Solomon’s commissariat officer in Benjamin (1Ki 4:18), B.C. 1013.

5. (Sept. ᾿Ηλά, Josephus ῎Ηλανος, Vulg. Ela.) The son and successor of Baasha, king of Israel (1Ki 16:8-10); his reign lasted for little more than a year (compare 1Ki 16:8 with 10), B.C. 928-7. He was killed while drunk by Zimri, in the house of his steward Arza, who was probably a confederate in the plot. This occurred, according to Josephus (Ant. 8:12, 4),while his army and officers were absent at the siege of Gibbethon. He was the last king of Baasha’s line, and by this catastrophe the predictions of the prophet Jehu were accomplished (1Ki 16:6-7; 1Ki 16:11-14).

6. (Sept. ᾿Ηλά.) The father of Hoshea, last king of Israel (2Ki 15:30; 2Ki 17:1), B.C. 729, or ante.

7. (Sept. ᾿Ηλά v.r. ᾿Ηλώ, Vulg. Ela.) The son of Uzzi, and one of the Benjamite heads of families who were taken into captivity (1Ch 9:8), or rather, perhaps, returned from it. B.C. 516.

Elah (ç’lah), terebinth, valley of. 1. Where David slew Goliath. 1Sa 17:2; 1Sa 17:19; 1Sa 21:9. It is now called Wady es-Sunt, or "Acacia Valley," 14 miles southwest of Jerusalem. The valley is about a quarter of a mile wide, and has steep sides rising to a height of about 500 feet. The torrent or brook has a deep channel in the middle of the valley, and its course is strewn with smooth white stones. Terebinth trees, which gave the original title to the valley, are still found there. 2. The name of six persons in early biblical history.

[El’ah]

1. Duke of Edom. Gen 36:41; 1Ch 1:52.

2. Father of Shimei, one of Solomon’s commissariat officers. 1Ki 4:18.

3. Son and successor of Baasha king of Israel. He reigned little more than a year, being killed while intoxicated, by Zimri. 1Ki 16:6-14.

4. Father of Hoshea the last king of Israel. 2Ki 15:30; 2Ki 17:1; 2Ki 18:1; 2Ki 18:9.

5. Son of Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 1Ch 4:15.

6. Son of Uzzi and a chief of the tribe of Benjamin. 1Ch 9:8.

By: Morris Jastrow, Jr., Charles Foster Kent

King of Israel; son of Baasha, who seized the throne of northern Israel after the murder of Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, its first king. Before he had reigned two years a conspiracy was organized against him within his corrupt court at Tirzah, and he was slain by Zimri, "captain of half his chariots, . . . as he was . . . drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, steward of his house" (I Kings xvi. 8-10). Josephus states that Zimri struck his blow when the army, which was the king's defense, was absent fighting at Gibbethon ("Ant." viii. 12, § 4). The family of Elah, experiencing the treatment usual in that semibarbarous age, found no mercy at the hands of the conspirators.

ELAH (‘terebinth’).—A valley in the Shephçlah, the scene of the battle between David and Goliath (1Sam 17, 21:9). It is most likely the modern Wady es-Sunt, which, rising in the mountains about Jeba, about 11 miles due S.W. of Jerusalem, runs westward, under various names, till it opens on the Maritime Plain at Tell es-Safi. In the middle of the valley is a watercourse which runs in winter only; the bottom is full of small stones such as David might have selected for his sling.

R. A. S. Macalister.

ē´la (אלה, ’ēlāh, “oak” or “terebinth”):

(1) A “duke” or “sheik” (head of a clan, the Revised Version (British and American) “chief”) of Edom (Gen 36:41).

(2) Shimei-ben-Elah, Solomon’s commissary in Benjamin (1Ki 4:18 the King James Version).

(3) A son of Caleb the son of Jephunneh (1Ch 4:15).

(4) Father of Hoshea, last king of Israel (2Ki 15:30; 2Ki 17:1).

(5) A Benjamite, son of Uzzi, one of the chiefs of the tribes when the country was settled (1Ch 9:8).

(6) King of Israel. See next article.