MAHALAB*

Reconstructed name of a town in Asher’s tribe (Jos 19:29, nlt “Mehebel”); the Hebrew text has a transposition of the last two consonants, but the town is probably the same as Ahlab and Helbah of Judges 1:31. The correct name is preserved in the Assyrian annals of Sennacherib as Mahalliba; another text has Mahalab. The town is sometimes identified with Khirbet el-Mahalib, northeast of Tyre.