Bible Dictionary
Moladah
Moladah was a city in the southern territory of Judah, assigned to Simeon. It was later repopulated by Jews after the Babylonian exile.
Definition
Moladah was a city in the southern region of Judah, assigned to Simeon. It was later associated again with Judah and was repopulated after the Babylonian captivity.
Biblical Usage
Moladah appears in the boundaries and towns assigned to Judah and Simeon, and in the list of places reinhabited after the exile.
Historical Background
Moladah lay in the Negeb toward Edom and was regularly mentioned near Beersheba. It has been identified with Tell el-Milch or el-Milh, though the identification has difficulties.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Birth, a city in the south of Judah which fell to Simeon (Josh. 15:21-26; 19:2). It has been identified with the modern el-Milh, 10 miles east of Beersheba.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(birth, race), a city of Judah, one of those which lay in the district of “the south.” (Joshua 15:26; 19:2) In the latter tribe it remained at any rate till the reign of David, (1 Chronicles 4:28) but by the time of the captivity it seems to have come back into the hands of Judah, by whom it was reinhabited after the captivity. (Nehemiah 11:26) It may be placed at el-Milh, which is about 4 English miles from Tell Arad, 17 or 18 from Hebron, and 9 or 10 due east of Beersheba.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>mol'-a-da, mo-la'-da (moladhah; Molada): A place in the far south (Negebh) of Judah, toward Edom (Jos 15:26), reckoned to Simeon (Jos 19:2; 1Ch 4:28). It was repopulated after the captivity (Ne 11:26). It is mentioned always in close proximity to Beersheba. Moladah is probably identical with Malatha, a city in Idumea to which Agrippa at one time withdrew himself (Josephus, Ant, XVIII, vi, 2). The site of this latter city has by Robinson and others been considered to be the ruins and wells of Tell el-Milch, some 13 miles to the East of Beersheba and some 7 miles Southwest of Arad. The chief difficulty is the statement of Eusebius and Jerome that Malatha was "by Jattir," i.e. `Attir; if this is correct the Tell el-Milch is impossible, as it is 10 miles from `Attir, and we have no light at all on the site. See SALT, CITY OF. For Tell el-Milch see PEF, III, 415-16, Sh XXV.</p><p>E. W. G. Masterman</p>