Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadMcClintock Biblical Encyclopedia: Anathoth
Subjects in this Topic:
(Heb., A nathoth', òֲðָúåֹú , answers, i.e. to prayers; Sept. Á᾿íáèώè ), the name of one city and of two men.
1. One of the towns belonging to the priests in the tribe of Benjamin, and as such a city of refuge (Jos_21:18). it is omitted from the list in Jos_18:1-28, but included “suburbs” (1Ch_6:60 [45]). Hither, to his “fields,” Abiathar was banished by Solomon after the failure of his attempt to put Adonijah on the throne (1Ki_2:26). This was the native place of Abiezer, one of David's 30 captains (2Sa_23:27; 1Ch_11:28; 1Ch_27:12), and of Jehu, another of the mighty men (1Ch_12:3). The “men” ( àֲðָùִׁéí , not áָּðִéí , as in most of the other cases; compare, however, Netophah, Michmash, etc.) of Anathoth returned from the captivity with Zerubbabel (Ezr_2:23; Neh_7:27; 1Es_5:18). It is chiefly memorable, however, as the birthplace and usual residence of the prophet Jeremiah (Jer_1:1; Jer_11:21-23; Jer_29:27; Jer_32:7-9), whose name it seems to have borne in the time of Jerome, “Anathth of Jeremiah” (Onomast. s.v.). The same writer (Comment. in Jer_1:1-19; Jer_1:1-19) places Anathoth three Roman miles north of Jerusalem, which correspond with the twenty stadia assigned by Josephus (Ant. 10, 7, 3). In the Talmud (Yoma, 10) it is called Anath ( òֲðָú ). (For other notices, see Reland's Paloest. p. 561 sq.) Anathoth lay on or near the great road from the north to Jerusalem (Isa_10:30). The traditional site at Kuriet el-Enab does not fulfill these conditions, being 10 miles distant from the city, and nearer west than north. Dr. Robinson (Researches, 2, 109) appears to have discovered this place in the present village of Anata, at the distance of an hour and a quarter from Jerusalem (Tobler, Topogr. 5, Jerus. 2, 394). It is seated on a broad ridge of hills, and commands an extensive view of the eastern slope of the mountainous tract of Benjamin, including also the valley of the Jordan, and the northern part of the Dead Sea (see Hackett's Illustr. of Script. p. 191). It seems to have been once a walled town and a place of strength. Portions of the wall still remain, built of large hewn stones, and apparently ancient, as are also the foundations of some of the houses. It is now a small and very poor village; yet the cultivation of the priests survives in tilled fields of grain, with figs and olives. From the vicinity a favorite kind of building-stone is carried to Jerusalem. Troops of donkeys are employed in this service, a hewn stone being slung on each side; the larger stones are transported on camels (Raumer's Paldistina, p. 169; Thomson's Land and Book, 2, 548).
Its inhabitants were sometimes called ANATHOTHITES SEE ANATHOTHITES (Annethothi', òִðְּúֹúִé , “Anethothite,” 2Sa_23:27; or Anthothi', òִðְúֹúִé , “Antothite,” 1Ch_11:28;
“Anetothite,” 27:12). SEE ANTOTHITE.
2. The eighth named of the nine sons of Becher, the son of Benjamin (1Ch_7:8). B.C. post 1856.
3. One of the chief Israelites that sealed the covenant on the return from Babylon (Neh_10:19), B.C. cir. 410.