Elon-beth-hanan
Elon-beth-hanan is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Khirbet Wadi Illin. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Elon-beth-hanan appears in Scripture within the administrative records of Solomon's kingdom, listed among the towns of the second district of Israel (1 Kings 4:9). The district, overseen by Ben-deker, was responsible for supplying provisions to Solomon's court for one month each year, a system of twelve administrative regions that sustained the grandeur of Jerusalem during Israel's golden age of prosperity. The name itself is compound, combining 'Elon' (meaning 'oak' or 'great tree') with 'Beth-hanan' ('house of grace'), possibly indicating a settlement near a notable oak grove associated with someone named Hanan. Its inclusion in this administrative list reveals that even small towns of the Shephelah foothills contributed to the sustaining of Solomon's vast household and building projects. Though the city plays no starring role in redemptive history, it testifies to the organized governance of Israel under Solomon, when the nation experienced the fulfillment of God's promise to give his people rest and prosperity in the land.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Elon-beth-hanan is tentatively identified with Khirbet Wadi Illin, a ruined site in the Shephelah region west of Jerusalem. The area falls within a zone of dense Iron Age settlement, and surface surveys have revealed pottery sherds consistent with occupation during the Israelite monarchic period. No major excavations have been conducted at this specific site, but the broader region has yielded evidence of agricultural villages that would have fit the administrative role described in 1 Kings 4. The compound name and its association with the Dan district suggest it lay in the transitional zone between the hill country and the coastal plain, an area of strategic and agricultural importance during the united monarchy.
Verse Appearances (1)
1Kgs
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]