3. A descendant of Judah (1 Chron. iv, 3, where two brothers and a sister are also mentioned), apparently of the same family with Penuol and Ezer, "sons" of Ilur, the grandson of Ilezron (ver. 4). From the fre- quent association of names of jilaces in the vicinity of Bethlehem in the same connection, it is probable that this Jezreel was the founder of the town in the tribe of Judah (No. 2, above) which bore his name. In the text it is stated of him and his relatives, " these are the father of Etam" (U'^'^-J "^SN fl^Xl, Sept. Kai outoi vtol AiV«jU, Vulg. isfci qnoque stirps Etam, Auth. Vers, "and these are of the fathers of Etam"), meaning ap- parently tliat they founded or resided in tlie jilace by that name; and, as several other towns in the same general neighborhood are expressly assigned to separate individuals in the enumeration, this must be ascribed specially to Ishma and Idbash, who, with their sister, are the only two not thus particularly identitied with any other locality. B.C. cir. 1012.
4. A symbolical name given hj the prophet Hosea to his oldest son (IIos. i, 4), then just born (B.C. cir. 782), in token of a great slaughter predicted by him, like that which had before so often drenched the soil of the plain of Esdraelon with blood (ii, 2). He is after- Avards made, together with his brother Lo-ammi and his sister Lo-ruhama (i, 6, 9), emblems of the Jewish 'people to be restored after jiunishment and dispersion in the approaching exile, and to be augmented by new fa- vors (ii, 24, 25). In this way is to be understood the vexed passage of the same prophet (Hos. ii, 22), "And the earth shall hear [ratlier, answer, and yield] the corn, and the wine, and the oil [due from the soil] ; and they [i. e. these gifts of the earth] shall hear [answer] Jezreel," i. e. the earth, rendered fertile from heaven (see ver. 21), shall yield anew her produce to (the tillers of)
Jezreel. The prophet then (ver. 23) carries out the ref- erence to his son, with evident allusion to tlie significa- tion of the jiame Jezreel, which implies the productive- ness of that plain, " And I will sow her [i. e. Iiim and it, Jezreel being construed as a fem., like other collectives, e. g. Ephraim in Isa. xvii, 10, 11, etc.] unto me in the earth ; and I will have mercy upon her that had not ob- tained mercy [i. e. again cherish Lo-rii henna], and I will say to them which were not my pcojjle [i. e. to Lo-ammi], Thou art my people, and they shall saj'. Thou art my God ;" i. e. the whole people of Israel, whom the prophet thus emblematically represents by his three children, will again be planted, cherished, and claimed by Jehovah as his own. — Gesenius. See Hosea. "From this time the image seems to have been continued as a prophetical expression for the sowing the people of Is- rael, as it were broadcast; as if the whole of Pales- tine and the world were to become, in a spiritual sense, one rich plain of Jezreel. ' I will sotv them among the people, and they shall remember me in far countries' (Zech. X, 9). ' Ye shall be tilled and soicn, and I will multiply men upon you' (Ezek. xxxvi, 9, 10). *I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of men and with the seed of beast' (Jer. xxxi, 27). Hence the consecration of the image of ' sowing,' as it appears in the N. T. (Matt, xii, 2)" (Smith).
Jez'reelite (1 Kings xxi, 1, 4, 6, 7, 15, 16 ; 2 Kings ix, 21, 25), an inhabitant of Jezreel (q.v.),in Issachar.
Jez'reelitess (1 Sam. xxvii, 3; xxx, 5; 2 Sam. ii, 2; 1 Chron. iii, 1), a Avoman of Jezreel (q. v.), in Ju- dah.
Jib'sani (Hebrew Yibsam', 'c'a'2'^, j^leasant ; Sept. 'If/3flTnju V. r. 'lijiaadv), one of the "sons" of Tola, the son of Issachar, a valiant chief, apparently of the time of David (1 Chron. vii, 2). B.C. cir. 1017.
Jid'laph (Hebrew Yidlaph', Clb'l"', tearful; Sept. 'liXoa(t>), the seventh named of the eight sons of Nahor (Abraham's brother) bv Milcah (Gen. xxii, 22). B.C. cir. 2040.
Jim'na (Numb, xxvi, 44), Jim'nah (Gen. xlvi, 17), Jini'nite (Numb, xvi, 44). See Imxa.
Jiph'tah (Heb. Yiphtach', nns';', the same name as Jephthuh; Sept. '\i(pSia), a town in the "lowland" district of Judah, mentioned between Ashan and Ash- mah (Josh, xv, 43), and lying in the southern medial group west of Hebron and east of Eleutheropolis. See Jl-dah. Some (c. g. Keil, ad loc.) have located it in the mountain district, contrary to the text; but, al- though the import of the name implies a " defile" ad- joining, and the associated names are indicative of nat- urally strong positions, yet the "plain" or Shephdah (q. v.) here actually comes quite far in this direction to the proper "hill country" (Robinson, Researches, iii, 13). We may therefore presume a location for Jiphtah at the ruined village Jimrin, -where a smaller vaUey runs up south from wady el-:\Ielck (Robinson, ii, 342, note ; Van de Yelde's Map', ed. If^U).
Jiph'thah-el (Heb. Yiphtach'-el, hVi-WnZ'^, open- inf) of God; Sept. [Tai] 'li<pSran\), a valley at the in- tersection of the line between Asher and Naphtali with the northern boundary of Zebulon (Josh, xix, 14, 27). Dr. Robinson, with great probability, suggests (new ed. of Researches, iii, lOG, 107) that the name is represented by that of Jotapata (IwrcnraTa), the renowned fortress of Galilee mentioned by Josephus as having been forti- fied by himself (I !'«?■,' ii, 20, 6; Life, 37), and then as having held out, under his own command, against the continued assaults of Vespasian, and where he was at last taken prisoner after the downfall of the place ( War, iii, 7, 3-30). He describes it as surrounded by a preci- pice, except on the north, where the city extended out upon the sloping extremity of the opposite momitain; the deep valleys on the other sides were overlooked by surrounding mountains. It contained no fountains, but only cisterns, with caverns aiid subterranean recesses.