H0059 H0059
Abel, a place name meaning 'meadow' or 'stream'; refers to a fortified city in northern Israel, Abel Beth Maacah.
Not to be confused with the personal name Abel (Hevel) of Genesis 4, this is a geographic term meaning 'meadow' or 'water-meadow,' used as a place name for several locations in ancient Israel. The most prominent is Abel Beth Maacah, a fortified city in the far north where Joab besieged the rebel Sheba ben Bichri (2 Sam 20). A wise woman within the city negotiated its salvation by delivering Sheba's head. The site is identified with modern Tell Abil el-Qamh, northwest of Dan.
Senses
1. sense 1 — A proper place name designating a city in northern Israel, most fully known as Abel Beth Maacah. In 2 Sam 20:14-18, Joab pursues the rebel Sheba to this walled city, where a 'wise woman' famously intervenes to save her town by negotiating the rebel's execution. The 1 Sam 6:18 reference is textually uncertain — many scholars emend 'abel' (meadow) to 'even' (stone) based on context and versional evidence. Translations uniformly transliterate: English, Spanish, French, and German all render it 'Abel' or 'Avel,' preserving the Hebrew toponym while the underlying meaning 'meadow' hints at the fertile landscape of the upper Jordan valley. 4×
AR["آبَل", "آبَلَ", "فِي-آبَلَ"]·ben["আবেল", "আবেলে", "বড়-শিলা"]·DE["Abel", "in-Avel", "zu-Avel"]·EN["Abel", "in-Avel", "to-Avel"]·FR["Abel", "dans-Avel", "à-Avel"]·heb["אבל", "אבלה", "ב-אבל", "ב-אבלה"]·HI["आबेल", "आबेल-में"]·ID["Abel", "batu-besar", "di-Abel"]·IT["Abel", "a-Avel", "in-Avel"]·jav["Abel", "wonten-Abel"]·KO["아벨", "아벨라", "에-아벨", "에-아벨라"]·PT["'Avel", "Avel", "em-Avel"]·RU["в-Авеле", "в-Авелу", "камня"]·ES["Abel", "a-Avel", "en-Avel"]·SW["Abeli", "katika-Abeli"]·TR["Avel'de", "Avel'e", "taşına"]·urd["آبیل", "آبیل-میں", "آبیل-کو"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† II. אָבֵל n.f. 1. meadow (?) 1 S 6:18 MT but read אֶבֶן cf. v 14, 15 𝔊 𝔖 We Dr. 2. n.pr.loc. city in N. Isr. 2 S 20:18, near Beth Maacah v 14 = אָבֵל בֵּית מַעֲכָה v 15 (so also v 14 Ew Th We Klo Dr), 1 K 15:20 2 K 15:29; = א׳ מַיִם 2 Ch 16:4 (= Abil el Ḳamḥ. wheat-meadow NW. of Dan & S. of Mutulleh RobBR III, 372). 3. אָבֵל הַשִּׁטִּים n.pr.loc. (= acacia-meadow) in lowlands of Moab Nu…