Ramathaim-Zophim

Coordinates: 31°49′59″N 35°10′52″E / 31.833°N 35.181°E / 31.833; 35.181
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Ramathaim-Zophim
רמתיים־צופים‎
Ramah viewed from the south, image c. 1915
Ramathaim-Zophim is located in Jerusalem
Ramathaim-Zophim
Shown within Jerusalem
Ramathaim-Zophim is located in Israel
Ramathaim-Zophim
Ramathaim-Zophim (Israel)
Ramathaim-Zophim is located in the West Bank
Ramathaim-Zophim
Ramathaim-Zophim (the West Bank)
Alternative nameRamah, Ramatha
RegionSouthern Levant
Coordinates31°49′59″N 35°10′52″E / 31.833°N 35.181°E / 31.833; 35.181
Typetown
History
CulturesKingdom of Judah

Ramathaim-Zophim (Hebrew: רמתיים־צופים), also called Ramah (רָמָה‎) and Ramatha in the Douay–Rheims Bible translation (Ramathaimsophim in the Vulgate), is a city from the Hebrew Bible, the home town and resting place of prophet Samuel. The name of the town means "the heights of the views."[1]

Identification

Ramah, the home of

Samuel and the seat of his authority (1 Sam. 2:11; 7:17), the town is frequently mentioned in the history of that prophet and of David (1 Sam. 15:34; 16:13; 19:18-23). Here Samuel died and was buried (1 Sam. 25:1
).

The historian Josephus distinguishes between Ramathaim, "a city of the tribe of Ephraim,"[2] and Ramah, the burial place of Samuel the prophet,[3] but he does not explicitly say that these were two different places.[4]

Ramathaim-Zophim has been tentatively identified with one of two sites. One of them is the modern

er-Ram
.

Er-Ram as Ramah

Ramah, according to

Er Ram, about 8 km north of Jerusalem.[6]

The Survey of Western Palestine identifies

er-Ram with Ramah of Benjamin from Joshua 18:25.[7]

Nabi Samwil as Ramah

Nabi Samwil stands about 5 miles north-west of

Jewish Orthodox synagogue
.

C. R. Conder, of the Palestine Exploration Fund, discredits this tradition.[8]

Ramallah as Ramathaim-Zophim

C. R. Conder of the Palestine Exploration Fund raised the hypothesis that, because of its high elevation and how that it affords a good prospect of the surrounding region, Ramathaim-Zophim may have been Ramallah.[9]

Nabi Samwil as Mizpah

The traditional tomb site of Samuel the prophet, which became known as

Kitchener of the Palestine Exploration Fund described the site in their days as being "a small hamlet of mud hovels."[11]

Judas Machabeus, preparing for war with the Syrians, gathered his men at Mizpah, over against Jerusalem: for in Mizpah was a place of prayer heretofore in Israel.[12]

Arimathea

Some, e.g.

Historia Scholastica, Cap. CLXXX: De sepultura Domini, have identified Ramathaim-Zophim as Arimathea of the New Testament
.

References

  1. Conder (1879), p. 116
  2. ^ Josephus, Antiquities 5.10.2. (5.341)
  3. ^ Josephus, Antiquities 6.13.5. (6.292)
  4. ^ McClintock & Strong 896: "Gesenius questions the identity of Ramathaim-zophim and Ramah ... but a comparison of I Samuel 1:1 with verse 19 shows without doubt that the same place is referred to. It is implied by Josephus ..."
  5. OCLC 937002750
    .
  6. ^ Ministry of Tourism, Government of Israel, Er Ram (Ramah), accessed 25 November 2016
  7. ^ Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1883). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology (Judaea). Vol. 3. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund., p. 13, s.v. Er Ram.
  8. OCLC 23589738
    .
  9. OCLC 23589738
    .
  10. OCLC 640235350
    .
  11. ^ Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1883). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology (Judaea). Vol. 3. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund., p. 12, s.v. Neby Samwil.
  12. ^ I Mach., iii, 46, cited in Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Maspha" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

External links

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