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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

IntroIndex©

ABEL (Place)

Fortified border city in upper Galilee to which King David’s general Joab pursued the rebel Sheba. After a wise woman of the city negotiated with Joab, the citizens executed Sheba and threw his head over the wall. Joab then called off the siege (2 Sm 20:13-22). The city was later conquered by the Syrian Ben-hadad during a continuing war between King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel. When Asa persuaded Ben-hadad to break a treaty with Baasha, Ben-hadad took a large amount of territory, including Abel, or Abel-beth-maacah, as it was also called (1 Kgs 15:16-20). Still later, Abel-beth-maacah (sometimes called simply Abel of Beth-maacah, or Abel of Beth-maachah) was conquered by Tiglath-pileser III, and its inhabitants were taken captive to Assyria (2 Kgs 15:29). The same city is called Abel-maim (“meadow of water”), emphasizing the productivity of the region (2 Chr 16:4). The town has been identified with modern Tell Abil-el-Qamh.