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MAMRE.—A name found several times in connexion with the history of Abraham. It occurs (a) in the expression ‘terebinths of Mamre’ in Gen_13:18; Gen_18:1 (both J [Note: Jahwist.] ), and Gen_14:13 (from an independent source) with the addition of ‘the Amorite’; (b) in the expression ‘which is before Mamre,’ in descriptions of the cave of Machpelah, or of the field in which it was (Gen_23:17; Gen_23:19; Gen_25:9; Gen_49:30; Gen_50:13), and in Gen_35:27, where Mamre is mentioned as the place of Isaac’s death; (c) in Gen_14:24 as the name of one of Abraham’s allies, in his expedition for the recovery of Lot. In (b) Mamre is an old name, either of Hebron or of a part of Hebron (cf. Gen_23:19, Gen_35:27); in Gen_14:13 it is the name of a local sheik or chief (cf. Gen_14:24), the owner of the terebinths called after him; in Gen_13:18; Gen_18:1 it is not clear whether it is the name of a person or of a place. The ‘terebinths of Mamre’ are the spot at which Abraham pitched his tent in Hebron. The site is uncertain, though, if the present mosque, on the N.E. edge of Hebron, is really built over the cave of Machpelah, and if ‘before’ has its usual topographical sense of ‘east of,’ it will have been to the W. of this, and at no great distance from it (for the terebinths are described as being ‘in’ Hebron, Gen_13:18). From Josephus’ time (BJ, IV. ix. 7) to the present day, terebinths or oaks called by the name of Abraham have been shown at different spots near Hebron; but none has any real claim to mark the authentic site of the ancient ‘Mamre.’ The oak mentioned by Josephus was 6 stadia from the city; but he does not indicate in which direction it lay. Sozomen (HE ii. 4), in speaking of the ‘Abraham’s Oak’ of Constantine’s day (2 miles N. of Hebron), states that it was regarded as sacred, and that an annual fair and feast was held beside it, at which sacrifices were offered, and libations and other offerings cast into a well close by. Cf. Oak.
S. R. Driver.