JEHOSHAPHAT, VALLEY OF (crrVT PTV, /t«\a» 'luacLtpdr, I'nl/U Jusnpliat). — This valley (anek)' is mentioned muUr the name of 'Jehoshaphat ' only by the prophet .(oel (3 [Heb. 4] ^ ■'). The circum- stances related by the prophet concerning the 'day of the Loiii)' are matters of theological contro- versy which it would bo outside the scope of this article to enter into, but the imagery rests upon a geographical basis whatever may be the symbolical import.
Some commentators have supposed that the name Ls only an imaginarj- one due to its significance, 'J" jiidgetir (Orelli in Strack u. Zrtckler, Kgf. Kamin. on .fuel, I.e. ; Micliaelis, liibil fiir I'nge- lilirtcn, Homarks on Joel). The name may have been use<l with reference to the remarkable victory of king Jehoshaphat over the united forces of the heathen of several nations (2 Ch 20'" ), children of Aiiimon, Moab, and .Mount Seir, which resulted to him in a bloodless victorj' over his enemies, and his triumphant return from the valley of Blessing.
There is no record in the Bible or Josephus aa to the valley .separating the temple mount from Olivet being called the valley of Jelioshaphat ; but early in the 4lli cent, it is called so, and the name has continued among ChrLstians, Jews, and sub-
* On the poMibtltty that thi* t«rm could b« applied to the valley of the A'lJron (eleewhcro always called nahal, * torrent, valley,' • wady ■), M* Urivu'i oota so Jl t<
662 JEHOSHArilAT, VALLEY OF
JEHOSnUA, JEHOSHUAH
seiiuently Moslems, np to the present day. The unkiiuwn Pilgrim of Bordeaux (A.D. 333) says, ' For one going to the gate which is on the east, that he may ascend the Mount of Olives, there is the valley which is called Jehoslmphat' (Itin. Hieros.). Euseloius and Jerome (A.D. 330-400) give the .«ame account {OS' 272. 89 ; 145. 13). Eucherius (427- 440) says, ' Near the wall of Jerusalem, or of the temple, on the east, is Geennon or the valley of Jehoshaphat' {Ant. Mart. xvii. ; see also Roland, Pal. p. 356). Theodorus (c. 530), speaking of Jeru- salem, says, ' There is the valley of Josaphat. There the Lord will judge the just .and the sinful.' Arculf (c. 680) speaks of the hrook Cedron in the valley of Jehoshaphat {Early Travels, p. 4). Willihald (721), Bernard (867), SaewniU (1102), Maundeville (1322), and Maundrell (1697) all men- tion the valley of Jehoshaphat as Ij'ing between Jerusalem and Olivet {Early Travels, p. 469). Theo- dorieus (1172) states that 'torrens Cedron et vallis Josaphat ' lies between Moriah and Olivet. John of Wurzburg(c. 1213) says, ' Propejuxta Jerusalem, sub iSalamonis regia in accubitu in valle Jo.saphat natatoria Siloara.' The author of Citez de Jheru- sahm (1187) states that the valley of Josaphat is to the east, between Olivet and Alount Zion. See further, art. KiDRON (The Bkook).
According to modern Je^^■ish tradition, the valley between the temple mount and Olivet is the valley of Jehoshaphat, and the dearest wish of the Jew IS to find a grave there (Briggs, Heathen and llohj Lands, p. 290). Benjamin of Tudela (A.D. 1170) calls this valley Jehosaphat. Some of tlxe Kabbins have taught that it is necessary to be buried in the Holy Land to obtain a share in the resurrection preceding the Messiah's reign on earth, and that the bodies of the righteous, wher- ever else buried, have to roll back again under ground to Palestine (J. Nicholaus, de Scjmlt. Heb.).
The 'Aven Shetyeh apj^ears to have been a portion of rock projecting three fingers' breadth above the floor of the Holy of Holies, covering a cavity which was regarded as the mouth of the 'abyss,' reverenced as the centre and foundation of the world, and having the inett'able name of God inscribed upon it. Rabbi Scliwartz {Das //fiiYtj/e iarerf) identifies this stone with the Sakhrah It is impossible not to suspect that these Jewish traditions are the origin of the sacredness which the Mohammedans have attached to the Sakhrah {PEFSt, 1875-76).
In the tract MiddCth, Rabbi Elieser ben-Jacob said concerning the Watergate, 'Through it the water proceeded out, and in future it will issue from under the threshold.' The Talmud teaclies that there was a canal which brought water to the sanctuary from the fountain of Etam (Jems. Yoma, iii. fof. 41 at Maim Baith Haimnukdask, v. 15). Rashi thinks Etam may have been the same as Nephtoah (Jos 15'). The Moslems have a de- scription of ' tlie day of the Lord ' which was prob- ably given by Mohammed as one of the first of his 'evelations, from which the following verses are extracted {Koran, 81) : —
'In the name of the all-merciful God a day shall come when the svm shall be shrouded and the stars shall fall from the heavens.
' When the water of the ocean shall boil, and the souls of the dead again be united to their bodies.
' When the heavens will pass away like a scroll, and hell will bum fiercely, and the joys of paradise will be made manifest.
' On that day shall every soul make known that which it hath performed.'
The day of resurrection will be preceded by signs and portents in heaven and earth, wars and tumults, a universal decay of faith, the advent of
Antichrist, the issuing forth of Gog and Magog to de.-;olate the worhl. Every human ucing will tliei be put upon his trial as to the manner in which he has employed his faculties, and the good and evil actions of his life. The whole a.sseml>led multitude will have to follow Mohammed across the bridge al-Hir^t, as fine as the edge of a scimitar, which crosses the g\ilf of Jeheimam or hell. Jehennara is a region fraught with nil kinds of horrors (W. Irving, Life of Mahomet). The bridge al-Sirdt that will be extended on the day of judgment between heaven and hell is to start from Jerusalem, and the pilgrim is shown a column, built horizontally into the wall [of the Ilnram esh-Sherif], which is to form its first pier. The holy rock [of the H. rsh-Sherif] is one of the rocks of paradise ; it stands on a palm tree, bencatli which fiows one of the rivers of par.adise. The Sakhrah is the centre of the world, and on the day of resurrection the angel Israfil will stand upon it to blow the last trump ; beneath it is the source of every drop of sweet water that flows on the face of the earth (Besant and Palmer, Jeru- salem). The column called et-Tarik (de Saulcy) or al-Sirdt (Ali Bey, Merj ed-Din, BFS part ii.) juts out from the east wall of the Haram esh-Sherif, overhanging the valley of the Kidron (Gchennam, Jehoshaphat), and on it may be seen devout Moslems in the early morning practising the first step into paradise.