Eltolad
Elto'lad
[many Et'tolad] (Hebrews Eltolad', אֶלתּוֹלִד, perhaps meaning God is its race or posterity; but, according to Furst [Hebr. Handw. s.v.], whose God is Mylitta, the Phoenician deity, SEE MOLADAH; Sept. Ε᾿λθωδάδ and Ε᾿λθωλάθ v.r. Ε᾿ρβωυδάδ and Ε᾿ρθουλά; Vulg. Eltholad), a city in the south of Judah, mentioned between Azem and Chesil (Jos 15:29), but afterwards assigned to Simeon, and mentioned between Azem and Bethul (Jos 19:4). It remained in possession of the latter tribe in the time of David (1Ch 4:29, where it is called simply TOLAD). It is possibly the ruined site Tell-Melaha, observed by Van de Velde (Memoir, page 113) along the N. branch of wady Sheriah, which empties into the Mediterranean a little S. of Gaza.
