Lexical Definition

‎אֶלְקֹשִׁי‎ ʼElqôshîy (el-ko-shee') Elkoshite ^N:N--LG
patrial from a name of uncertain derivation

Elkoshite.

• § Elkoshite = "God the ensnarer"
• an Elkoshite or native of Elkosh

1) a native and/or descendant of Elkosh (location unknown)

Brown-Driver-Briggs

‎אֶלְקוֺשִׁי‎ adjective, of a people with article Nahum the Elkoshite Nah 1:1 (perhaps = from Elkosh, but locality unknown; identified by Jer^Comm. with a village Elcesi in Galilee; compare also Capernaum (= ‎כְּפַר נַחוּם‎ ?); others (improbably) with an Elkosh on east bank of Tigris, near Mosul). **On etymology, and site of place, see Da^{Nahum, etc., 9 ff.} GASm^{Twelve Proph. ii. 79f}.

Brown-Driver-Briggs References

Profile

Hometown of the prophet Nahum

Elkosh, the hometown of the prophet Nahum, probably located in Judah.

• A location only mentioned at Nam.1.1;
• only referred to as Elkosh אֶלְקֹשִׁי.
  

Elkosh is mentioned only once in the Bible, in Nahum 1:1, as the hometown of the prophet Nahum. No other details about the town are provided in the biblical text. Nahum's prophecy is primarily an oracle against the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, foretelling its destruction due to its wickedness and cruelty.

The exact location of Elkosh is unknown. Some scholars propose that it may have been in the region of Galilee, while others suggest it was in the southern kingdom of Judah. Another theory is that Elkosh was actually in Assyria, and that Nahum lived among the exiles there. However, the content of Nahum's prophecy, with its focus on Judah's deliverance from Assyrian oppression, makes a Judean location more likely.

Regardless of its exact location, Elkosh was significant as the birthplace of one of God's prophets who declared His judgment against a powerful enemy nation and His mercy toward His people.

All entries for Elkosh: אֶלְקֹשִׁי