THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
2. The Territory of Benjamin : The part of Judea which belonged to the tribe of Benjamin is described in Josh, xviii. 11 sqq. Its southern boundary coincided with the northern boundary of Judah from the Jordan in the east to Kirjathjearim in the west, its western boundary ran from Kirjath-jearim to Beth-horon, its 1. General northern boundary from Beth-horon
Dtion-P" t0 tne Jordan hy Bethel and Jericho, Jericho, while the Jordan limited it on the east, thus including a territory not quite twelve miles by thirty-one. The region about Jericho was very fruitful, the eastern slope unproductive, the upland poor in water and infertile except the strip between Bethel and Beth-horon. From the west and the north the country is not easily reached, and naturally its population was regarded as warlike and inclined to brigandage (Gen. xlix. 27). The account in Josh, xviii. employs earlier sources, but, when considered historically, raises many difficulties, especially in connection with political relations. The boundary between the two kingdoms fluctuated with the fortunes of the kingdoms themselves; probably the picture in Joshua registers the conditions after the time when the northern kingdom fell. Jerusalem seems to have been connected with the territory of Benjamin, not that of Judah. The cities as described in the Joshua passage fall into two groups, one to the east of twelve cities (verses 21- 24) and one to the west of fourteen (verses 25-28). The chief city of the first group is Jericho, called also in some passages " the city of palm-trees " (Deut. xxxiv. 3). The book of Joshua tells of the miraculous capture of the city and of its complete destruction by Joshua, as well as of his imprecation upon the man that should rebuild it. This last item does not agree with statements in Judges hi. 13; II Sam. x. 5; but I Kings xvi. 34 tells of its rebuilding and the realization of the curse by Hiel. A company of prophets made it their home in the time of Elijah and Elisha. It was inhabited after the return (Neh. iii. 2), Bacchides fortified it against Jonathan (I Mace. ix. 50), and in a fortress near by Simon the Maccabee was treacherously murdered. Herod secured possession of the city and beautified it, placing there one of his palaces, though his buildings seem to have been south of the ancient city site. In the time of Josephus the region was a very garden for fertility, watered as it was by the streams of the wady which debouched upon its plain. It was Herod's city at which Jesus rested on his last journey to Jerusalem (Matt. xx. 29), and the Onomaslicon implies that it was destroyed at the fall of Jerusalem. A new city arose near by, where Justinian built a church, and this was destroyed either by the Persians or the Arabs. The Crusaders erected a city which soon fell into disrepair. In recent times a new era has come to it. The Jordan valley from the Sea of Tiberias to the Dead Sea belongs to the sultan personally, and one of his representatives resides at Jericho. The Russians have a church and a hospice there.
A second city in this group was Beth-hoglah, on the boundary line, three Roman miles from Jericho and two from the Jordan, according to the Onomas-
licon. Betharaba lay on the plain of the Jordan but its site is not recovered. Zemaraim is probably to be sought on the highland south of Bethel (II Chron. xiii. 4). Bethel is the well-known Betin, and the outlook corresponds
2. The entirely with the requirements of Gen. First xii 8 xiii 3_10 xxvjii 18 22, though
Group of , , ., , . , ' ' o
Benjamite y name was necessarily
Cities. apart from the sanctuary situated there
from which the city took its name. It appears as on the boundary between Joseph and Judah, and near it was the oak of weeping by the grave of Deborah (Gen. xxxv. 8). This may have been one of the oldest Yahweh sanctuaries in the highland, and it was selected by Jeroboam as one of the two great sacred places of his realm. There or near by a company of the prophets had its settlement (II Kings ii. 3 sqq.), and the priests sent by the Assyrians to teach the people religion dwelt there (II Kings xvii. 24 sqq.); Josiah destroyed the sanctuary (II Kings xxiii. 15), and Bacchides fortified the place in the Maccabean wars. North of it is a singular group of stones which is recognized by some scholars as a cromlech (Hebr. Gilgal). Avvim is sometimes identified with Ai, but without certainty. Para is identified with Fara, a little over nine miles west of Jericho in Wadi Fara. Ophra, probably the same as the place mentioned I Sam. xiii. 17, the Ephron of II Chron. xiii. 19, and the Ephraim of II Sam. xiii. 23, is mentioned in John xi. 54 and Josephus, War, IV., ix. 9. Geba is the Gibeah of I Sam. xiii. 16, the present Jeba, to be distinguished from the Gibeath of Josh, xviii. 28. The second group of Benjamite cities includes, according to the Hebrew, fourteen places, according to the Septuagint, thirteen (not ah the same as the Hebrew). Gibeon comes very often into notice in the history of the people. It formed one of a league of cities at the time of the conquest,
and its inhabitants are called Hivites
3. The (josh jx- 7), it had a notable sanc- Qt°vl tuary (I Kings iii. 4 sqq.), became one
of the priestly cities, and by indications from the Onomasticon is placed at al-Jib about five and a half miles north of Jerusalem, occupying the northern peak of a twin hill. Ramah lay north of Jerusalem and Gibeath, on the road that leads northward, a border town between Israel and Judah in the time of Asa. The tomb of Rachel seems to have been in the vicinity (Jer. xxxi. 15). The Onomasticon places it six Roman miles north of Jerusalem, opposite Bethel, the modern al-Ram, the site of old ruins. Beeroth (" wells ") was one of the places which joined in the league with Gibeon (Josh. ix. 17), but was evacuated before the Benjamites (II Sam. iv. 3). The Onomasticon locates it seven Roman miles from Jerusalem on the road to Nicopolis which leads from Jerusalem by Gibeon and Beth-horon to the western plain. This suits better than the location of al-Bira, eleven Roman miles north of Jerusalem near Bethel. Mizpeh was fortified by Asa against the northern kingdom, and was the residence of Gedaliah after 586 b.c. (I Kings xv. 22; II Kings xxv. 23). It is frequently mentioned in both the earlier and the later annals of the people, and lay on the road from Jerusalem to