Abel-beth-Maachah
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(meadow of the house of Maachah) (2 Kings 15:29) — a city in the northern part of the tribe of Naphtali, southeast of Caesarea Philippi, north of the Hulah. Here Sheba, son of Bichri, fled and shut himself in when pursued by Joab, David’s commander. The citizens, however, fearing a siege of the city for having harbored him, on the advice of a certain woman, cut off his head and threw it over the wall to Joab (2 Sam. 20:14–22). The city, it seems, had considerable importance and was strongly fortified; it was besieged in the reign of David by Joab, in the reign of Asa by Ben-Hadad, and in the reign of Pekah by Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria.
On its site there are now ruins and a village called Abil, or Abil-el-Kamh, near a small stream. Perhaps the expression “a mother in Israel” (2 Sam. 20:19) points to the size and importance of the city.