Abel
a.vel identifies a place named in travel, siege, inquiry, and landmark contexts.
The attested uses identify a place: chiefly the Abel of Beth-maacah named as a destination, a besieged city, and a place of inquiry; one occurrence calls a site the great Abel.
Senses in use
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Place name in a northern conflict account · dominant
In 2 Samuel 20:14 the proper noun names Abel of Beth-maacah as the destination reached after passage through Israel's tribes. In 2 Samuel 20:15 the APB renders the location as a city besieged with a mound raised against its rampart, and in 2 Samuel 20:18 it preserves the saying, “Let them inquire at Abel,” as the place where a matter was settled.
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Landmark called the great Abel · rare
In 1 Samuel 6:18 the proper noun marks “the great Abel,” the site on which the ark was set in the field of Joshua the Bethshemite.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB presents the term as “the great Abel” in 1 Samuel 6:18 and as “Abel of Beth-maacah” in 2 Samuel 20:14 and 2 Samuel 20:15; in 2 Samuel 20:18 it retains “Abel” in a saying. These are presentations within a whole-verse translation.