Ewald identifies it with the Ephraim in the neighbourhood of which Absalom's sheep farm was situated (2 S 13^) ; but the Ephraim there referred to is diHerently spelled, beginning with R, whereas Ephraim of Benjamin begins with v. If Ewald is right in accepting as genuine the words which the LXX puts in the watchman's mouth in 2 S 13**, and in interpreting them as referring to Beth-horon, this would in reality put a further dilficulty in the way of the identification which he proposes ; for this would indicate a site N.W. of Jerus., whereas et-Taiyibeh lies N.E. of the capital, and the neighbourhood of Bethel seems to show that Ephraim of Benjamin must have been in the same locality. Jerome describes it as being 'In tribu Juda, villa pnegrandis, Ephrsea nomine, contra septentrionem in vicesimo ab .£lia mUliario.'
LiTTOATTR*.— Robinson, BRP i. 444-147 ; Ou^rin, Juiie, iii 45-51 ; Ewald, HI, Eng. tr. iii. 172 ; Schiirer, BJP I. i. 240 : PEFSt, 1886, p. 67 ; Andrews, Life oj Our Lord, 409-411 : Smith, HGHL 352 ; Driver, Sam. 233. J. H. KENNEDY.
EPHRAIM, FOREST OF (D-jirK ij,;)._The scene of the battle between the forces of David and the followers of Absalom (2 S 18"). As ' the city ' (18») out of wliich David was to succour Joab, if needed, was Mahanaim (17"), the battle must have been fou<'ht on the other side of a plain from that city (18'-^). Though the site of Mahanaim has not been certainly determined, it must have been in Gileail (see Mahanaim). The most probable site is Mukh- nah on the eastern side of the circular plain ' El-Bu- keia.' Insteaxl of E^piiya of LXX, Luc. has Madivar = Q';n5. This is accepted by Klosterm., and Budde (In Haupt's OT] remarks that Mahanaim ' would be good, but is perhaps a guess.' a-itK is ' unquestion- ably wrong ' and could well be dispensed with, but
can hardly have originated 'out of nothing.' It has been suggested that the ' K. of E.' got its name from the battle recorded Jg 12'^-. It is more prob. that it was from a settlement of Ephraimites on the east of Jordan, an attempt to have a lot there as well as Manasseh, for tlie Ephraimites were from the first dissatisfied with their portion (Jos 17""'"). To this the obscure words of Jg 12'' may refer. See Smith, HGHL p. 335 n.'. A. Henderson.
EPHRAIM, GATE OF.— See Jerusalem.
EPHRATHAH (n.n-!??, LXX'E.^pa9d, AV wrongly Ephratah) in Ps 132" is prob. not an ancient name of Bethlehem, but means the territory bordering on Judah and Benjamin, in which lay Kirialh-jearim, where the ark rested for a time, and where it is represented as being 'heard of,' found 'in the field of Jaar.' So Ges., Del., and see RVm. 2. A place near Bethel where Rachel died and was buried, Gn 35'° 48' (in both of which pas.sages ' the same is Bethlehem ' is a gloss). 3. A name of Bethlehem, Ru 4", Mic 5=. 4. The wife of Caleb (1 Ch 2«' 4*. abbrev. in 1 Ch 2" to Ephrath). See Caleb.
W. T. Davison.
EPHRATHITE (-mrx).— 1. A native of Beth- lehem (Ru 1=). 2. An Epliraimite (Jg 12*. 1 S 1' [cf. Driver, ad loc, and see art. Samuel], 1 K 11*).
EPHRON (pi?;;).— The son of Zohar the Hittite, from whom Abraham purchased the field or plot of ground over-against Alamre, in which was the cave of Machpelah (Gu 23). The purchase is described with great particularity ; and the transactions between Ephron and Abraham are conducted with an elaborate courtesy characteristic of Oriental proceedings. Ephron received 4CI0 shekels' weight of silver (23"') : coined money apparently did not exist at that time. If we compare the sale of the site with other instances (Gn 33", 1 K 16"), Ephron seems to have made a good bargain.
The presence of Hittites in Palestine in the days of Abraham is noticeable. It is possible that Epliron belonged to a different group of H i ttites from those who dwelt in Asia Minor. ' Indeed it seems probable that before either Canaanites or Aram- aeans appeared west of the Euphrates, the Hittites had settled throughout Syria, and the Amorites in Palestine ... It is also not without a special allusion to the distant past that the learned Ezekiel (16'") says of ancient Jerusalem, "the Amorite was thy father and thy mother a Hittite" ' (McCurdy, History, Prophecy, and Monuments, vol. i. p. 196). See further under HiTTlTES.
H. E. Ryle.
EPHRON (p-iEi;), Jos 15^ — A mountain district, containing cities, on the border of Judah, between Nephtoah and Kiriath-jearim. The ridge W. of Bethlehem seems intended. 2. ('E(ppwv) 1 Mac 5*>-52^ 2 Mac 12'-". A strong fortress in the W. part of Bashan between Ashteroth-karnaim and Beth- shean. The site is unknown. 3. See Ephraim in preceding col. C. R. CONDER.
EPICUREANS ('EiriKoi'petoO.— We read in Ac 17" that when St. Paul came to Athens ' certain of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him.' A\ liether he discussed their tenets with them is not related, nor what they thought of his ; for we need not refer to the two sects tlie unfavourable criti- cisms, that St. Paul w£is a babbler and a setter forth of strange gods.
E;i)icurus was born B.C. 342, and spent his early life in the Ionian Islands. In 307 he domiciled himself at Athens, and soon gathered round him a group of friends and pupils who never forsook him. Their meeting-place was a small garden and villa which he o\\-ned in the suburbs, and which h«