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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadInternational Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Ephraim (2)
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(1) A position apparently of some importance, since the position of Baal-hazor (probably = Tell ‛Asūr) where Abraham's sheep-farm was located, is determined by relation to it (). That it lay North of Jerusalem seems to be indicated in . It may be identical with the Ephraim of Eusebius, Onomasticon, 20 Roman miles North of Jerusalem, and therefore to be sought somewhere in the neighborhood of Sinjil and el- Lubbān. Connected with this may have been the name Aphaerema, a district in Samaria mentioned in 1 Macc 11:34; Ant, XIII, iv, 9.
(2) The town near the wilderness to which Jesus retired after the raising of Lazarus (). This probably corresponds to Ephrem of Eusebius, Onomasticon (s.v. “Afraâ€) 5 Roman miles East of Bethel. This may be the place named along with Bethel by Josephus (BJ, IV, ix, 9). It probably answers to etÌ£-TÌ£aiyebeh, a large village about 4 miles North of Beitı̄n. The antiquity of the site is attested by the cisterns and rock tombs. It stands on a high hill with a wide outlook including the plains of Jericho and the Dead Sea. See EPHRON.