Nephtoah and Kirjath-Jearim
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Palestine Exploration Quarterly ISSN: 0031-0328 (Print) 1743-1301 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ypeq20 Nephtoah and Kirjath-Jearim Claude R. Conder To cite this article: Claude R. Conder (1879) Nephtoah and Kirjath-Jearim, Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 11:2, 95-99, DOI: 10.1179/peq.1879.11.2.95 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/peq.1879.11.2.95 Published online: 20 Nov 2013. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 4 View related articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ypeq20 Download by: [Duke University Libraries] Date: 01 June 2016, At: 09:26 NEPHTOAH AND. XIRJATH-JEARIM. 95 hope that before long it ,vill be found possible to expend the small sum necessary to protect from .further injury one of the most venerable monuments in the world. ~Among the surroUnding ruins we found fragments of three red · granite columns lying prostrate on the ground. Half a mile up the valley we found a fourth column, fifteen feet long, lying by the road- side. On making inquiry we learned that this column had been brought from the well to form an entrance to the modern barracks. The idea, however, was not carried out, and _the venerable column was_ cast aside, and nOw lies neglected by the roadside. The four reminded 'us of· the columns in Helena's Basilica at Bethlehem, and· perhaps formed part of the original church built in the days of Constantine. The Old Testament, the Samaritan woman, external evidence and tradition extending back to at least the fourth century, testify that the well is the work·of the patriarch. Jews and Samaritans, Christians and Moslems, agree that this rock- cut bore is Jacob's Well, so that" of all ~he special localities of Our Lord's life in Palestine, this is, perhaps, the only one· absolutely undisputed." . JAMES KING. :N:EPHTOAH AND I{IRJATH-JEARI~f. THE following notes may perhaps be useful as throwing some light on the question raised by Rev. A. Henderson in-the October number of the Quarterly Statement, respecting the line of the boundary of Judah, between J erusalein and Beth-shemesh :- This boundary has usually been drawn westwards by Lifta (supposed to be Nephtoah),and Kuriet el 'Anab, supposed to be Kirjath-jearim. There is, however, one very great objection to such a line, namely~ the passage in the history of Saul (1' Sam. x. 2), which incidentally mentions the tomb of Rachel as being in the "border" of BenJamin .. ·The word S':3~t used in this passage, is the word used in the book or Joshua· to define the "boundary line" between the tribal possessions. The Rabbinical writers agree 'with this statement, saying that Ra'chel died within'the territory of Benjarilln. There is another objection also respecting Lifta, namely, that the Arabic does not contain the guttural of the Hebrew Nephtoah~ No Downloaded by [Duke University Libraries] at 09:26 01 June 2016 town of the name of' Nephtoah is mentioned, either. in the passage of ·Joshua (xv. 9) or : elsewhere in the Bible; the place is called ." the ·fountain of the waters of N ephtoah' (nln~l 't~ i'17~), and .the. word i'17~ ·translated "fountain,",means.a group of springs, or a large supply of water, ,such as does not exist at Lifta. : ·The Babylon Talmud Commentary 'on the tract·Yoma of the Mishnah ;(fo1. 31a) informs .-us .that Nephtoah :wasthe same '-place. as .Etam .(c~'tV), whence~an aqueduct ran to the:Temple .... T·h'e.Etam· in question' has been recognised by Dr. Tobler and· others as thepreserit 'Ain 'Atiln, ·Closeto the so-caned 'Pools of Solonion, sbuth.;,west of Bethlehem. From I '96 NEPHTOAH AND KIRJATH-JEARIM. · this spring an' ancient aqueduct still leads to the Temple enclosure in Jerusalem. The site thus indicated by Jewish tradition, in a passage which has special value because the notice is merely incidental, appears very .appropriate. First, because 'in this case the boundary line, running from Jerusalem south wards, and passing west of Bethlehem, would naturally be drawn close to Rachel's Sepulchre, on the watershed of the country. And, secondly, because a collection of springs, such as is indicated by the word Pl)r.l, does exist at this spot. It seems, therefore, that there is a su.fficient prima-facie case to make the. inquiry worth pursuing~ and in order to make the question clearer it will be, well to examine very carefully the special terms employed, in the passage of the book of Joshua which describes the boundary line, starting from En Rogel, the' spring east of Jerusalem now gene~ally identified with the so-called" Fountain of the Virgin." JOSHUA XV. Vel'. 8. "The border went up by the valley ('1J) Ben Hinnom to the shoulder (~li':)) of the Jebusi to the south, and the border ascended to the top (W~i) of the hill which is facing Gehinnom west, which is by the end (i1:lp) of the Emek Rephaim northwards." Vel'. 9. "And the border was drawn from the top of the hill to the '1 .springs of the water of N ephtoah, and went out to the cities of Mount Ephron (7'i~,V) ; and the border was drawn to Baalah, which is Kirjath- jearim." Vel'. 10. "And the border compassed (:JOJ) from Baalah westwards to ·the hiU Seir (i'l,VW), and crossed over (i:J,V) to the shoulder (~Vi~) of the hill Jearim northwards (i1':)H):lr.l) it is Chesalon, and descended ('i'l) to Beth-shemesh and crossed over to Timnah." J OSHU~ XVIII. Vel'. 15. "And the south quarter from the end (i1:lp) of Kirjabh- jearim; and the border went forth westwards, and went forth to the .springs of the water of Nephtoah." Vel'. 16. "And the border descended to the end of the hill which is above the face (,,)~Sy) of the Ge Ben Rinnom, which is by the Emek Rephaim northwards, and went down Ge-Hinnom to the shoulder of the J ebusi, Downloaded by [Duke University Libraries] at 09:26 01 June 2016 8nd descended to En Roge~." Few descriptions could be more carefully worded; the term~ used for going up, down, or across, are. all explicit, and the description is ·properly reversed as the border is described from east to west, or from west to east. Without entering into the question of the identity of Gehinnom with ·-one of the two valleys which claim the name, it is evident that the ·border ran- south of J ebus, and ascended to the hill west of Gehinnom .and north' of the Emek Rephaim. The position of the Emek Rephaim is, however, of importance, as it NEPHTOAH AND KIRJ ATH-JEARIM. was close to the border. The word Emek (p~t'), equivalent to the Arabic , Ghamtk, or "deep," is used ,in the Bible to signify the great open valleys between mountain chains,,·~rid,sometimes the plains bounded by moun- ' tains. Thus the broad valley of Elah is called Emek; the term cannot properly be applied to a gorge or ravine. Josephus says that the Valley of Rephaim was a valley extending from Jerusalem to Bethlehem (Ant. vii. 12. 4), and the authors of the Onomasticon understood the name to apply to the hollow plateau which· extends from south of Jerusalem to Mar Elias, and which is generally now called the Plain of Rephaim. From various passages in the Old Testament the proximity of this· Emek Rephaim to :;Bethlehemmay also be inferred. The Philistines were there e~camped when the dangerous expedition' of David's heroes to Bethlehem 'was undertaken (2 Sam. xx.'iii. 13; 1 Ohron. xi. 16). In another passage the Philistines are said to. have spread themselves in the Emek Rephaim, showing it to have been an expanse suitable, as a camping-ground; and David's pursuit was by Geba to Gazer (2 Sam. v. 22), by which we may understand a flight by the main valley west of Bethlehem, abo-yewhich stands Jeb' a, the ancient Gibeah of Judah. The identification of Nephtoah with 'Mn 'Atan; the probable position }- of the Emek Rephai~;' and the incidental notice of Rachel's sepulchre as being on the boundary, all therefore point to the watershed between Jerusalem and Bethlehem as forming the boundary between Judah and Benjamin. The identification of Kirjath-jearim with K1.triet el 'Anab (as proposed by Dr. Robinson) will, however, not agree with such a bound.ary; but this rests solely on the evidence of early Christian writers, and the im- portant part of the Hebrew title-viz., Jearim-is not found in the A~abic name. The indications which we possess as to the position of Kirjath-jea.rim. in the Bible are scanty. l.t was in the territory of Judah (Josh. xviii. 14), and therefore a distinct place from Kirjath of Benjamin, which may very probably have been Kttriet el '.Anab, or, as it is generally called~ Kurich. The place called Mahaneh Dan(T' njn~), which was apparently neftr Zoreah and Eshtaol (Sur'ah and Eshu'a), was also "by" (:J) and "behind" (,.,n~) Kirjath-jearim (Judg. xviii. 12). This place, judging Downloaded by [Duke University Libraries] at 09:26 01 June 2016 from the general use of the word (compare, "forinstance, the plain called Mukhnah, near Shechem), must have been a broad flat expanse suitable for a camp, such as is found in the open valley of Sorek south of Zoreah.