Dictionaries :: Elath, Eloth

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Elath, Eloth:

(a grove) the name of a town of the land of Edom, commonly mentioned with Ezion‐geber, and situated at the head of the Arabian Gulf, which was thence called the Elanitic Gulf. It first occurs in the account of the wanderings (Deuteronomy 2:8) and in later times must have come under the rule of David (2 Samuel 8:14). We find the place named again in connection with Solomon's navy (1 Kings 9:26 compare 2 Chronicles 8:17). In the Roman period it became a frontier town of the south and the residence of a Christian bishop. The Arabic name is Eyleh, and palm groves still exist there, after which it was named.