Rammok. See Dromedary.
Ramoth. See Coral.
Ra'moth (Heb. Ramoth', tivcft [but MiaS^ in Deut. iv, 43; Josh, xx, 8; 1 Chron. vi, 73, 80], heights,
KAMOTH-GILEAD
902
RAMOTH-GILEAD
plur. ofRamah [q. v.]: Sept. usually 'Papu&, but 'Pij- ,/!.,.- 111 Ezra \. 29, 'Pafifiu>B in 2 Chron. xviii, 2. '■'•. ■">. etc.), the name of three towns in Palestine, and also of one man.
1. , >. pi. ,) ' i ',;,(.. >. One of the four Levitical cities of [ssachar aci ording to the catalogue in 1 Chron. i vi. 73). In the parallel list in Josb. (xxi, 28, 29), among other variations, J aemuth (q. v.) appears in place of Ramoth. Ii seems impossible to decide which is the cor- rect reading; or whether, again, Rkmi in (q.v.),atown of Issachar, is distinct from them, or one and the same.
2. A city in the tribe of Gad i Deiitiv. 13; Josh. x\, 8; xxi, 38; L Chron. vi, 80), elsewhere called Ramoth- i.II.I AD ' q. v.).
3. Sept, 'Papa.) A city in the tribe of Simeon ("South Ramoth," 1 Sam. xxx, 27). See Ramath-
M i.l I :.
4. (Heb. text Yirmoth', 7"'2~". raarg. ve-Ramoth', r""~". and Ramoth; Sept. 'PrjfiwB v. r. Mnfiiiv.') An [sraelitish layman of the sons of Bani, who renounced his strange wife at Ezra's instigation i Ezra \. 29 . B.C. 158.
Ramoth-gilead i Heb. Ramoth' Gilad' ', ~'/z: r-:~ ; Sept,'PefXfiaS,'Pefi/iu>$,and'Pafi(t>S rdkaud; EptpaS- ya\aa£ v. r. 'PafipwS; Josephus, ipapaSa ; Vulg. Ra- moth Galaad), the "heights of Gilead;" or RAMOTH IN GILEADOsbaa nbtfl; Sept. i, 'Pafimd Iv VaXaaS, ' Xniijiw :-.!'(/'/'.' '- Va\aad,Y.T.'Pafipu$,'Pafub$; Vulg. Ramoth in Galaad, Deut i\. 13; Josh. xx,8; xxi, 38, 1 Kings xxii, 3 [in the A. V. only] ; also written plene, T"Z~. in 1 Chron. xxii, '■<: and simply Ramah, """'. in 2 Kings viii, -J!', and 2 Chron. xxii, 6), one of the chief cities of the tribe of Gad, on the cast side of the Jordan. Ii was allotted to the Levites, and appointed acitj of refuge (Dent. iv,43; Josh.xx,8). Thelatter fact would seem to indicate that ii occupied a central position in the tribe, and also probably in the country assigned to the [sraelites east of the Jordan. Ramoth played for a time an important part in [sraelitish his- tory, and was the scene of many a hard struggle. It was apparently a strong fortress, and considered the key of the country. Hence, when taken bythe Syrians, the kings ol [srael andJudah regarded it as a national loss. affecting both kingdoms, and they combined to drive out the common enemy il Kings xxii. 4 sq.). The united attack was unsuccessful, and the king of Israel was mortally wounded in the battle i xxii, 34-37). At a later period, apparently in the reign ofJoram (2 Kings
i\. 1 I. 15; enmp. Josephus, Ant. ix, 6, 1 1, Ramoth was taken from the Syrians and held, notwithstanding all the efforts of rlazael to regain it, Joram, having been wounded in the struggle, left his army under the com- mand of Jehu, and returned to Jezreel to be healed f2 Kings viii. 29 >. During his absence Jehu was anointed by order of Elisha (ix, 1. 2), and commission d to exe- cute vengeance on the wicked house ol Ahab (ver.7 10). Leaving Ramoth, Jehu drove direct to Jezreel. The king, expecting news from the seal of war, had watch- men sel on the towers, who saw his chariot approach- ing iver. 16, 17). The rest of the story is well known. See \ii\n: Jehu. After this incident Ramoth-gilead no iimre in Jewish history. The exact position of Ramoth is nowhere defined in Scripture. I he name i Ra otk, " height to indicate that it occupied a commanding position on the summit of the range of Gilead. In 1 Kings iv, 13,
we read that when the districts Of Solomon's purveyors
were arranged, the son oi Geber was Btationed in Ra- moth, and had charge of all the i ities of. lair the son of Manasseh, both in Gilead and Bashan ; and these cities extended over the whole north-eastern section of Pales- tine beyond Jordan. Various opinions have keen enter- tained regarding the site of this ancient city. Some would identity it with Jerash, the old Roman Gerasa, whose ruins are the most magnificent and extensive east of the Jordan (see £i ja lin of Tvdela, by Vsher); but this is too far north, and Jerash, he-ides, lies in a valley. Kwald would locate it at the village of /,'< imun among the mountains, five mile- west of Jerash I Gesch. Tsr. iii. 500). For this there is no evidence whatever. ( ithers locate ii on a site bearing the name of JeVM, ex- actly identical with the ancient Hebrew Gilead, which is mentioned by Sect/en (Reisen, March 11. 1806), and marked on his map (ibid, iv I and that of Van ih' Wide (1858) as four or five miles north of es-Salt. Schwarz (Palest, p. 232 sq.) identifies this Ramoth with Kvllat el-Rabat, which is situated on one of the highest points of the mountain of Gilead. not far from the Wady Rajib, and west of Ajlun. It is even now strongly fortified, and is visible at a great distance, especially to the north- east. The most probable opinion regarding the site of Ramoth is that which places it at the village of es-Salt. This is indicated (a) by its position on the summit of a steep hill; (6) by its old ecclesiastical name Saltus Bieraticus, which appears to point to its original "sac- erdotal" and ■•holy" character. Ramoth having been both a Levitical city and a "city of refuge" (see Reland,