Abel-meholah

Abel-meholah ("meadow of dancing") was a town in the Jordan Valley near the border between Manasseh and Issachar. It first appears in the rout of the Midianites — Gideon's 300 men chased the fleeing Midianite army as far as "the border of Abel-meholah by Tabbath" (Judges 7:22). Its lasting fame is as the hometown of Elisha. When God sent Elijah out from Mount Horeb with the commission to anoint his successor, Elijah found Elisha plowing with twelve yoke of oxen at Abel-meholah and threw his prophet's cloak over Elisha's shoulders — a wordless call that the young farmer immediately accepted, slaughtering his oxen and burning the plowing equipment as a sign that there would be no going back (1 Kings 19:16-21). Years later, Solomon's fifth administrative district under Baana son of Ahilud included Abel-meholah (1 Kings 4:12).