El'kosh (dpbx, i. e. God is its bow, see Fiirst, Hebr. Handw. s. v.), the birthplace of the prophet Na- hum, hence called " the Elkoshite" (Nah. i, 1). Two wideh' differing Jewish traditions assign as widely different localities to this place. In the time of Je- rome it was believed to exist in a small village of Galilee. The ruins of some old buildings were point- ed out by his guide as the remains of the ancient El- kosh (Jerome, on Nah. i, 1). Cyril of Alexandria {Comm. on Nahum) says that the village of Elkosh was somewhere or other in the country of the Jews. Pseu- do-Epiphanius (Z)e Vitis projihetarum, in his 0pp. ii, 247) places Elkosh on the east of the Jordan, at Betha- bara {uq B?/y«/3ap, Chron. Pasch. p. 150, Cod. B, has iic jiij-u(iat^)ijv), where he says the prophet died in peace. According to Schwartz {Palestine, p. 188), the grave of Nahum is shown at Kffr Tanchum, a village 2i English miles north of Tiberias. A village of the name El-Kauzah is found about 2| hours S.W. of Tib- nin, which seems to correspond with Jerome's notice. Another village of that name, also an ancient site, lies on a high hill rather more than 2 hours S. of Nablous (Van de Velde, Memoir, p. 309). But mediaeval tra- dition, perhaps for the convenience of the Babj^lonian Jews, attached the fame of the prophet's burial place to El-Kush, or Alkosh, a village on the east bank of the Tigris, near the monastery of Rabban Hormuzd, and about two miles north of Mosul. It is situated on a stony declivitj', has a few gardens, and contains about 30 papal Nestorian families (Perkins, in the Bib- lioth. Sacra, July, 1852, p. 643). Benjamin of Tudela (p. 53, ed. Asher) speaks of the sjmagogues of Nahum, Obadiah, and Jonah at Asshur, the modern Mosul. R. Petachia (p. 35, ed. Benisch) was shown the proph- et's grave, at a distance of four parasangs from that of Baruch, the son of Neriah, which was itself distant a mile from the tomb of Ezekiel. It is mentioned in a letter of Masius, quoted by Assemani (Bibl. Orient. i, 525). Jews from the surrounding districts make a pilgrimage to it at certain seasons. The synagogue which is built over the tomb is described by Colonel Shiel, who visited it in his journey through Kurdistan (Joiirn. Geoff. Soc. viii, 93). Rich evidently believed in the correctness of the tradition, considering the pil- grimage of the Jews as almost sufficient test (Kurdis- tan, i, 101). Layard, however, Sf:caks less confidently (^Ninereh, i, 197). Gesenius doulits the genuineness of cither locality {Thes. Heb. p. 1211 b). The tradition which assigns Elkosh to Galilee is more in accordance ■with the internal evidence afforded by the prophcc}', which gives no sign of having been written in Assyria (Knobel, Prophet, ii, 208; Hitzig, A7. Proph. p. 212; Edwar<ls, in the Bibliolheca Sacra, Aug. 1848, p. 557 sq.). — Smith, s. v. See Nahum.
El'koshite (Heb. Elkoshi', "^dp^X, the regular patrial form ; Sept. 'EX(Cf (Ta(oc, Vulg. Elcesceus), an epi- thet (Nah. i, 1) of the pro])het Nahum (q. v.), appar- ently as an inhabitant of Elkosu (q. v.).
El'lasar (Heb. Ellasar', "^O^X: Furst suggests [Heb. Handu'b. s. v.] that it may be compounded of bx=!3ri and ^CiX = -irri<; Sept. 'E/Un(Ta», a terri- torj' in Asia, v.'hose king, Arioch, was one of the four who invaded Canaan in the time of Abraham (Gen. xiv, 1, 9). The association of this king with those of Elam and Shinar indicates the vicinity of Babjdonia and Elymais as the region in which the kingdom should be sought ; but nothing further is known of it, unless it be the same as Thjilasar mentioned in 2 Kings xix, 12, the Telassar of Isa. xxxvii, 12. Sym- machus and the Vulg. understand Pontus. The Jeru- salem Targum renders the name by Telassar. The Assyro-Babylonish name of the king Arioch (q. v.) would seem to point to some province of Persia or As- syria (compare Dan. ii, 14). Col. Rawlinson thinks (see Jour. ,s«c. Lit. Oct. 1851, p. 152 note) that Ellasar is the Hebrew representative of the old Chaldrean town called in the native dialect Larsa or Larancha, and known to the Greeks as Larissa (Aapiirafl) or Lar- achon (A.apdx^v'). This suits the connection with Elam and Shinar (Gen. xiv, 1), and the identification is orthographically defensible. Larsa was a town of Lower Babylonia or Chaldsa, situated nearly half way between Ilr (now !Mugheir) and Erech (Warka), on the left bank of the Euphrates. \t is i^o-w Senkereh. The inscriptions show it to have been one of the primitive capitals, of earlier date, probably, than Babylon itself; and we maj' gather from the narrative in Gen. xiv, that in the time of Abraham it was the metropolis of a kingdom distinct from that of Shinar, but owning al- legiance to the superior monarchy of Elam. That we hear no more of it after this time is owing to its ab- sorption into Babj'lon, which took place soon after- wards.— Kitto, s. V. ; Smith, s. v. See Abraham.
Eller, Elias, chief of a fanatical sect known under the name of the EUerians, or '■^Communion of Ronsdorf.''' He was born in 1690 (according to others, in the be- ginning of the 18th centurj'). He was the son of a poor peasant in the village of Ronsdorf, in the duchy of Berg, where at that time not onh' Pietism, but Mil- lenarianism and " Philadelphian" mj'sticism had nu- merous adherents. He early went to Elberfeld to find employment in a manufactory, and while there he won the confidence of a rich widow, Bolckhaus, to so high a degree that she married him. Eller at this time had already gained a great influence among the Separatists in Ellierfeld, as he was thoroughly acquainted witli the writings of all the leading Mystics. Having become rich l)y his marriage, he soon (1726) organized, together with a Reformed pastor, Schleiermachcr, a society of Apocalyptic Millenarians who regularly met in his house, and on meeting and separating greeted each other with a " seraphic" kiss. Among the regular at- tendants at these meetings was Anna von Buchel, the beautiful daughter of a baker in Elberfeld, who soon astonished the whole society by her ecstasies and vis- ions, and by the wonderful prophecies which she pro- claimed while in this condition. She claimed to hold frequent conversations with the Lord, and announced the beginning of the millennium to take place in 1730. The new doctrine found manj' adherents, and number- ed upwards of 50 families; but the relations of Anna with Eller became at the same time so intimate that Eller's wife openly accused the two of illicit inter- course, and declared the prophecies of Anna to be a deliberate fraud. Eller declared his wife to be insane, and had her locked up, while Anna claimed to have re- ceived a revelation that Eller's wife was possessed by an evil spirit, and would soon be carried off by Satan, The whole society, even the sons of Eller's wife from