Kir'jath-je'arim (Hch. Kiryath'-Yedrim', r""lp S'l"!""', city afforests; Sept. Kapim^iapEi/i, Josh, xviii, 14; Judg. xviii, 12; 1 Chron. ii,' 50, 52. 2 Chron. i, 4; Neh. vii, 29; Jer. xxvi, 20; Kioia^apifi, 1 Sam. vi, 21; vii, 1,2; V. r. 1 Chron. ii, 50, 52 ; 2 Chron. i, 4 ; Neh. vii, 29 ; Jer. xxi, 20 ;. ttoAic 'la^iiji, Josh, xv, 9, GO ; 1 Chron. xiii, 5 [v. r. 'lapi'/i] ; ttoKhq 'lapiiji. Josh, ix, 17; Krt- ptci^iatip v. r. TToXic; 'loin, 1 Chron. ii, 53 ; KaniaBjia- a\, Josh, xiii, 15; omits in 1 Chron. xiii, G [or, rather, l>araphrases the words "Baalah, which is Kirjath-jea- rim," by ttoXiq Aaiuo] ; Josephus ») raij' Kapia^iapi- ^UTMV TToXic, Ant. vi, 2, 1 ; with the art. Ciir^n r.;;'"ip, Jer. xxvi, 20), in the contracted form KIRJATH-AliDI (lieh. Kiryath'-Arim', C^^jJ »^!?"'p! Ezra ii, 25; Sept. Kopirt3'tap£i'jit v.r. Kapia^iapifi), and simply KIRJATH (HQb.Kiryatk', r'i"ip, Josh. xviii, 28; Sept. TroXiQ'lapi- (ifi), one of the towns of the Gibeonites (Josh.ix, 17). It belonged to the tribe of Judah (Josh. xv, 60; Judg. xviii, 12), and lay on the border of Benjamin (Josh, xviii, 15 ;' 1 Chron. ii, 50), to which it was finally assigned (Josh, xviii, 2S). It was to this jilace that the ark was brought from Beth-shenifsh, after it had been removed from the land of the rinlistincs, and where it remained till removed to Jerusalem by David (1 Sam. vii; 1 Chron. xiii). This was one of the ancient sites which were again in- habited after tlie exile (Ezra ii, 25; Neh. vii, 29). It was also called Kikjatii-baal (Josh, xv, GO ; xviii, 14), and Baalah (Josh, xv, 9). It appears to have lain not far from Beerotli (Ezra ii, 25). " It is included in the genealogies of Judah (1 Chron. ii, 50, 52) as founded by or descended from Sliobal, the son of Caleb beu-llur, and as having in its turn sent out the colonies of the Ithrites, Fuhites. Shumathites, and JNIishraitcs, and those of Zo- rah and Eshtaol. 'Behind Kirjath-jearim' the band of Danites pitched their camp before their expedition to Mount Ephraim and Laish, leaving their name attached to the spot for long after (Judg. xviii, 12), See ]Maiia- XEii-DAX. Hitherto, beyond the early sanctity implied in its bearing the name of Baal, there is nothing "re- markable in Kirjath-jearim. It was no doubt this rep- utation for sanctity which made the people of Beth-she- mcsh appeal to its inliabitants to relieve them of the ark of Jehovah, which was bringing such calamities on their mitutored inexperience. From their place m the
valley they looked anxiously for some eminence, which, according to the belief of tliose days, should be the ap- propriate seat for so powerful a Deity [see Thomson, Land and Bool; ii, 539] (1 Sam. vi, 20, 21). In this high place — ' the hill' (n"35ri) — under the charge of Eleazar, son of Abinadab, the ark remained for twenty years (vii, 22), during Avhich period the spot became the resort of pilgrims from all parts, anxious to offer sacri- fices and perform vows to Jehovah (Josephus. A nt. vi, 2, 1). Sixty-two years after the close of that time Kir- jath-jearim lost its sacred treasure, on its removal by David to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite (1 Chron. xiii, 5, G; 2 Chron. i, 4; 2 Sam. vi, 2, etc.). It is very remarkable and suggestive that in the account of this transaction the ancient and heathen name Baal is re- tained. In fact, in 2 Sam. vi, 2 — probably the original statement — the name Baale is used without any expla- nation, and to the exclusion of that of Kirjath-jearim. In the allusion to this transaction in Psa. cxxxii, G, the name is obscurely indicated as the 'wood' — yaar, tho. root of Kirjath-^V-«/im. AVe also hear of a prtiphct Uri- jah ben-Shemaiah, a native of the place, who enforced the warnings of Jeremiah, and was cruelly murdered by Jehoiakim (Jer. xxvi, 20, etc.), but of the place we know nothing beyond what has already been said. A tradi- tion is mentioned by Adrichomius {Desci: T. S. Dan. § 17), though without stating his authority, that it was the native place of ' Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, who was slain between the altar and the Temple' " (Smith). Josephus says it was near Beth-shemesh (^Ant. vi, 1, 4). Eusebius and Jerome {Onomast. s. v. Ba«X, Baal-cara- thiarim') speak of it as being in their day a village nine or ten miles from Diospolis (Lydda), on the road to Je- rusalem ; consequentl}' north-west (Hamesveld, iii,2G6). With this description, and the former of these two dis- tances, agrees Procopius (see Keland, Palast. p. 503). On account of its presumed proximity to Beth-shemesh, Williams {Holy City) endeavors to identify Kirjath-jea- rim with Deir el-Hoica, east of Ain Shems. I5ut this, though sufficiently near the latter place, does not an- swer to the other condltifjus. Dr. Robinson thinks it possible that the ancient Kirjath-jearim may be recog- nised in the present Kiiryet el-Enab. The first part of the name (Kirjath, Kuryet, signifying city") is the same in both, and is most probably ancient, being found in Arabic proper names only in Syria and Palestine, and not very frequentlj^ even there. Tlie only change has been that the ancient " city of forests" has, in modern times, become the " city of grapes." The site is also about three hours, or nine Roman miles from Lj'dda, on the road to Jerusalem, and not very remote from Gibeon, from which Kirjath-jearim could not well have been distant. So close a correspondence of name and position seems to warrant the conclusion in favor of Kuryet el- Enab (seeRitter's Erdkinule, yixi, 108-110). This place is tliat which ecclesiastical tradition has identified with the Anathoth of Jeremiah (i, 1 ; comp. Jerome, ad loc. ; also Onomasticoii, s. v. ; Josei)hus, A nt. x, 7, 3), which, howev- er, is at Anata. Kuryet el-Enab is now a poor village, its principal buildings being an old convent of the JMin- orites and a Latin church. The latter is now deserted, and is used for a stable, but is said to be one of the lar- gest and most solidly constructed churches in Palestine (Robinson, ii, 109, 334-337). The village is prettily sit- uated in a basin, on the north side of a spur jutting out from the western hills. The only well-built houses are those belonging to the family of the sheiks Abu-Ghosh, who for the last half centurj' have been the terror of travellers, but have lately been overtaken with punish- ment by the Turkish government. Dr. Robinson re- marks that "a pretty direct route from Beth-shemesh would pass up on the cast of Yeshua and along wady Ghurab; but no such road now exists, and probably never did, judging from the nature of the country. In all probability, the ark was brought up by way of Saris" (Researches, new cd., iii, 157). Schwarz, who identifies Kirjath-jearim with the same site, suggests that the hill