ELATH ( or ; in the Sinaitic inscriptions ):

Idumean port at the northern end of the Ælanitic Gulf, the later Aila. According to the Old Testament, the name of the place is also Elparan. In Deut. ii. 8 it is mentioned with Eziongeber (comp. I Kings ix. 26; II Chron. viii. 17). In Solomon's time the city came into the possession of the Israelites, but afterward it was probably taken from them. Later Uzziah reconquered it (II Kings xiv. 22; II Chron. xxvii. 2), but under Ahaz it was again lost (II Kings xvi. 6). The old city owed its name to the abundance of palms in the vicinity.

Bibliography:
  • Robinson, Biblical Researches in Palestine, i. 280;
  • Wetzstein, in Delitzsch, Hiob, p. 118;
  • Buhl, Gesch. der Edomiten, p. 38.
E. G. H. F. Bu.
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