Elealeh

Elealeh (meaning God has ascended or burnt-offering of God) was a town in the pastoral territory east of the Jordan, originally belonging to the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and captured by Israel (Numbers 32:3). It was assigned to the tribe of Reuben, which rebuilt it (Numbers 32:37). Elealeh lay in close proximity to Heshbon, the chief city of the region, and appears alongside Heshbon in the prophetic oracles against Moab in Isaiah 15:4 and 16:9, where the prophet grieves over the devastation of the lush agricultural region.

The site has been identified with the modern ruin of el-Al, a short distance northeast of Heshbon (modern Hesban) in the highlands of Transjordan. Jeremiah 48:34 also includes Elealeh in the lament over Moab, indicating that by Jeremiah's time the town had come under Moabite control again — consistent with the area's frequent change of hands between Israel, Moab, and later Ammon.