Bible Dictionary
Abel-beth-maachah
Abel-beth-maachah was an important fortified city in the far north of Israel, near Dan and Ijon. It was besieged or captured during conflicts involving Joab, Ben-hadad, and Tiglath-pileser, and was also called Abel-maim.
Definition
Abel-beth-maachah was a fortified and important city in northern Palestine, near Dan and Ijon in the territory of Naphtali. It was also called Abel-maim. The name means “meadow of the house of Maachah.” The city was regarded as a metropolis, or “mother in Israel.”
Biblical Usage
Abel-beth-maachah was besieged by Joab and later attacked by Ben-hadad and Tiglath-pileser. These references present it as a strategically important northern city during conflicts involving Israel, Syria, and Assyria.
Historical Background
The site was identified with modern Abil or Abil-el-kamh, on rising ground east of the brook Derdarah, about six miles northwest of Dan. The brook flows through the plain of Huleh into the Jordan.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Meadow of the house of Maachah, a city in the north of Palestine, in the neighbourhood of Dan and Ijon, in the tribe of Naphtali. It was a place of considerable strength and importance. It is called a “mother in Israel”, i.e., a metropolis (2 Sam. 20:19). It was besieged by Joab (2 Sam. 20:14), by Benhadad (1 Kings 15:20), and by Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings 15:29) about B.C. 734. It is elsewhere called Abel-maim, meadow of the waters, (2 Chr. 16:4). Its site is occupied by the modern Abil or Abil-el-kamh, on a rising ground to the east of the brook Derdarah, which flows through the plain of Huleh into the Jordan, about 6 miles to the west-north-west of Dan.