ALEMA ăl’ ə mə (̓Αλέμα). One of a half-dozen cities in Gilead in which the Gentile inhabitants had imprisoned some Jews (1 Macc 5:24-26). When Judas Maccabeus was informed of the situation, he took the cities and slew their inhabitants (5:28-44). The exact location of Alema is unknown, but it has been identified with ’Alma on the plain of Hauran, possibly identical with the Helam of 2 Samuel 10:16.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

A town in Gilead, mentioned once only (1 Macc 5:26), besieged by the nations under Timotheus, together with Bosor and other cities; and probably relieved along with these cities by Judas Maccabeus, although no mention is made of Alema’s relief. The name occurs the one time as dative plural.