Ramathaim-Zophim ( he, רמתיים־צופים), also called Ramah () and Ramatha in the
Douay–Rheims Bible
The Douay–Rheims Bible (, ), also known as the Douay–Rheims Version, Rheims–Douai Bible or Douai Bible, and abbreviated as D–R, DRB, and DRV, is a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English made by member ...
translation (Ramathaimsophim in the
Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
), is a city from the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
, the home town and resting place of prophet
Samuel. The name of the town means "the heights of the views."
Identification
Ramah, the home of
Elkanah
Elkanah ( he, אֱלְקָנָה ''’Ĕlqānā'' " El has purchased") was, according to the First Book of Samuel, the husband of Hannah, and the father of her children including her first, Samuel. Elkanah practiced polygamy; his other wife, ...
, Samuel's father (), the birthplace of
Samuel and the seat of his authority (), the town is frequently mentioned in the history of that prophet and of
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
(). Here Samuel died and was buried ().
The historian
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
distinguishes between Ramathaim, "a city of the tribe of Ephraim," and Ramah, the burial place of Samuel the prophet.
Ramathaim-Zophim has been tentatively identified with one of two sites. One of them is the modern
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
village of
Nabi Samwil
An-Nabi Samwil, also called al-Nabi Samuil ( ar, النبي صموئيل ''an-Nabi Samu'il'', translit: "the prophet Samuel"), is a Palestinian village of nearly 220 inhabitants in the Quds Governorate of the State of Palestine, located in the ...
, the other the former village, now town, of
er-Ram
Al-Ram ( ar, الرّام), also transcribed as Al-Ramm, El-Ram, Er-Ram, and A-Ram, is a Palestinian town which lies northeast of Jerusalem, just outside the city's municipal border. The village is part of the built-up urban area of Jerusalem, the ...
.
Er-Ram as Ramah
Ramah, according to
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...
' ''
Onomasticon'', was located 6 milestones north of Jerusalem (Ailia), opposite
Bethel
Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanct ...
. Accordingly, Ramah is now thought by many historical geographers to be
Er Ram, about 8 km north of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.
The Survey of Western Palestine identifies
er-Ram
Al-Ram ( ar, الرّام), also transcribed as Al-Ramm, El-Ram, Er-Ram, and A-Ram, is a Palestinian town which lies northeast of Jerusalem, just outside the city's municipal border. The village is part of the built-up urban area of Jerusalem, the ...
with Ramah of Benjamin from .
Nabi Samwil as Ramah
Nabi Samwil stands about 5 miles north-west of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, and is held by an originally Christian tradition dating back to the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
period to be the resting place of the prophet Samuel). The site comprises what is now the Israeli Nebi Samuel
National Park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
, with its most prominent feature being a two-storey
Crusader fortress, now used as a mosque and a
Jewish Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on ...
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
.
Benjamin of Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela ( he, בִּנְיָמִין מִטּוּדֶלָה, ; ar, بنيامين التطيلي ''Binyamin al-Tutayli''; Tudela, Kingdom of Navarre, 1130 Castile, 1173) was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, an ...
visited Nabi Samwil when he travelled
the land in 1173, noting that the
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
had found the bones of Samuel in a Jewish cemetery in
Ramla
Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations.
The city was f ...
on the coastal plain and reburied them here, on the hill overlooking the Holy City.
C. R. Conder
Claude Reignier Conder (29 December 1848, Cheltenham – 16 February 1910, Cheltenham) was an English soldier, explorer and antiquarian. He was a great-great-grandson of Louis-François Roubiliac and grandson of editor and author Josiah Conder. ...
, of the
Palestine Exploration Fund, discredits this tradition.
Ramallah as Ramathaim-Zophim
C. R. Conder
Claude Reignier Conder (29 December 1848, Cheltenham – 16 February 1910, Cheltenham) was an English soldier, explorer and antiquarian. He was a great-great-grandson of Louis-François Roubiliac and grandson of editor and author Josiah 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.
Nabi Samwil as Mizpah
The traditional tomb site of Samuel the prophet, which became known as
Neby Samwil ("the prophet Samuel"), may have been
Mizpah in Benjamin
Mizpah ( he, מִצְפָּה ''miṣpāh'', 'watch-tower, look-out') was a city of the tribe of Benjamin referred to in the Hebrew Bible.
Tell en-Nasbeh is one of three sites often identified with Mizpah of Benjamin, and is located about 12 kilo ...
, where Samuel was appointed leader of the Israelites (). Such was the view of
Edward Robinson who visited the site in 1838, and who vehemently objected to identifying Neby Samwil with the Ramah of Samuel.
Conder and
Kitchener of the
Palestine Exploration Fund described the site in their days as being "a small hamlet of mud hovels."
Judas Machabeus
Judah Maccabee (or Judas Maccabeus, also spelled Machabeus, or Maccabæus, Hebrew: יהודה המכבי, ''Yehudah HaMakabi'') was a Jewish priest (''kohen'') and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleuci ...
, 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.
[I Mach., iii, 46, cited in ]
Arimathea
Some, e.g.
Petrus Comestor
Petrus Comestor, also called Pierre le Mangeur (died 22 October 1178), was a twelfth-century French theological writer and university teacher.
Life
Petrus Comestor was born in Troyes. Although the name ''Comestor'' (Latin for 'eater', ''le Ma ...
(ca. 1100-1179) in his ''
Historia Scholastica
The ''Historia Scholastica'' is a twelfth-century Biblical paraphrase written in Medieval Latin by Petrus Comestor. Sometimes called the "Medieval Popular Bible", it draws on the Bible and other sources, including the works of classical scholars an ...
'', Cap. CLXXX: De sepultura Domini, have identified Ramathaim-Zophim as
Arimathea Arimathea ( grc-gre, ‘Αριμαθέα) or Harimathaea (, ''Harimathaía'') was a city of Judea. It was the reported home of Joseph of Arimathea, who appears in all four Gospel accounts of the Passion for having donated his new tomb outside Jer ...
of the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
.
References
{{reflist
External links
Nebi Samuel Park Israel Nature and Parks Authority
Hebrew Bible cities