Moladah

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MOLADAH

MOLADAH (Heb. מוֹלָדָה), city in the Negev of Judah, described in Joshua 19:2 and i Chronicles 4:28 as a town of the tribe of Simeon, and in Joshua 15:26 as a town of the tribe of Judah in the Negev, near Beer-Sheba. It is among the cities listed in Nehemiah 11:26, apparently settlements which endured through the Babylonian Exile. The commonly proposed identification with the Malatha of Josephus (Ant., 18:147) and the Malaatha of Eusebius (Onom. 14:3; 88:4; 108:3) is baseless. Khirbat al-Waṭan, approximately 8 mi. (13 km.) east of Beer-sheba, has been suggested as a possible identification. Pottery found on the site dates from the Iron Age. The Arabic name may be a translation of the Hebrew (both Ar. waṭen and Heb. moladah; "birthplace").

bibliography:

Abel, Geog, 2 (1938), 391–2; em, s.v. (incl. bibl.); Press, Ereẓ, s.v.; Avi-Yonah, Geog, index.

[Michael Avi-Yonah]