Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

ELAM (Place), ELAMITES

Occupying an area roughly the size of Denmark, Elam was located in southwest Asia, east of Babylonia and north of the Persian Gulf, on a plain known to the Iranians since the Middle Ages as Khuzistan. The region today corresponds to southwest Iran. Mountainous areas to the north and east, known as the Anshan range, formed a peripheral part of Elam. The land’s fertility was linked to several waterways, the most significant of which—the Karkheh—forms Elam’s western boundary.

A people with a culture and history spanning more than 2,000 years, the Elamites seem to have lived in constant strife with the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and finally the Persians, by whom they were absorbed. As a race, the Elamites were a mixture of dark-skinned aboriginals of questionable origin and Semites who had spilled over into the land from Mesopotamia.

Western civilization would know virtually nothing of Elam were it not for the biblical witness. Elam is mentioned in conjunction with Shem’s progeny (Gn 10:22), and in the book of Acts it is reported that among the Israelites present in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost were some from the old area of Elam (Acts 2:9). Isaiah prophesied that the Jews carried away in the Babylonian exile would return from such places as Elam (Is 11:11); however, these were most likely Aramaic-speaking Jews who had decided not to return to their homeland following the repatriation edict of Cyrus of Persia (Ezr 1:1-4). The name Kedorlaomer, king of Elam (Gn 14:1), is demonstrably an authentic Elamite name, thereby lending additional support to the accuracy of the historical narrative in Genesis. Daniel’s vision at Shushan in the province of Elam (Dn 8:2) reveals precise knowledge of the geography of the area and its waterways. In such accounts the Bible shows itself to be a valuable adjunct to extrabiblical literature for the history of the ancient Near East.

In the eighth century BC, Isaiah summoned Elam to participate in the shattering of Babylon as an act of the Lord’s judgment (Is 21:2); there is little information, however, about Elam’s role in the overthrow of Babylon in 540 BC. Elam, with other rebellious nations, would eventually experience the cup of God’s wrath (Jer 25:15-26). Even its world-renowned archers would prove no match for the Lord of hosts (Is 22:6-12; Jer 49:35; Ez 32:24). Ezekiel’s dirge over Elam dramatically illustrates the horror of a godless grave (Ez 32:24-25). Jeremiah warns the Elamites that they cannot escape the judgment of God, made certain by the presence of his throne among them (Jer 49:38). Yet Elam’s destruction, though politically complete in Persia’s conquest, would not be altogether irremediable (v 39). Though its dislocation would rival those of its contemporaries, Jeremiah spoke of a time when God would extend mercy to descendants of the Elamites. Such an expectance, following the phrase, “in the latter days,” may point to the messianic age. The prophet may well have envisioned that momentous Day of Pentecost, when many from Elam would be among those in Jerusalem upon whom the Spirit of the Lord fell.