Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

ELATH

Edomite city (also spelled Eloth) at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba (Dt 2:8; 1 Kgs 9:26), on the eastern border of the wilderness of Paran (Gn 14:6, where it is alternately called El-paran). It probably owed its named (which means “grove of trees”) to the many palm trees in the area and may have been located in a grove of sacred trees. Elath was strategically located along a primary trade route running from southern Arabia and Egypt to Phoenicia, making it a valuable city to possess.

Elath was taken by Kedorlaomer from the Horites (Gn 14:5-6). Later it was regarded as the southern limit of the territory of Edom (Dt 2:8). David probably captured it when he conquered Edom (2 Sm 8:14). During the reign of Joram, Jehoshaphat’s son, revolt restored it to the Edomites (2 Kgs 8:20-22). A few years later it was recaptured and rebuilt by Judah’s King Uzziah (2 Kgs 14:22). It remained under Judah’s rule until the time of Ahaz, when it was taken by Rezin of Syria and occupied by Syrians (2 Kgs 16:6). From about 753 BC onward, it remained an Edomite city until it was abandoned sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BC. Then the Nabateans, who controlled the area, built a city a little farther east of the original site and renamed it Aila.