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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comFausset Bible Dictionary: Elath
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In Edom, on the Red Sea, near Ezion Geber (). Now in Arabic Eyleh, at the point of the eastern horn of the Red Sea. Both town and gulf are named Akaba. No doubt included in David's conquest of Edom (). Solomon's navy rode at sea near Ezion Geber, beside Eloth (; ). From Elath the Elanitic gulf, the eastern arm of the Red Sea, takes its name. It means "trees," and a grove of palm trees is still at Akaba. Edom revolted in the Israelite king Joram's days; Azariah (Uzziah) of Judah "built Elath and restored it to Judah" (; ). Rezin of Syria recovered it and drove out the Jews (). The Eyleh district was originally occupied by a tribe of the Amalekites (the Sameyda). Amalek, according to Arab historians, passed from the Persian gulf through the Arabian peninsula to Arabia Petraea. Herodotus makes the Phoenicians come from the Red Sea; if they were Cushites, their maritime propensities would accord with the characteristics of that race.