Beit HaKerem (Bible)

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For other uses, see Beit HaKerem (disambiguation).

Beit HaKerem (Hebrew: בית הכרם, lit. "house of the vineyard"; Beth HakKerem in Biblical Hebrew) is a biblical place associated with the Tribe of Judah (Nehemiah 3:14).

Possible location[]

Some identify Beit HaKerem with Ein Kerem.[1] Others place Beit HaKerem south of Jerusalem, at Ramat Rachel, where cairns on the ridge may have served as beacons of old.[2] Others say it was near Tekoa, later known as Herodium.[3][4] Neubauer, citing the Church Father Jerome, writes that from Bethlehem one could see Bethacharma, thought to be the Beit HaKerem of Jeremiah.[5] According to the Bible, the trumpet sounded against the invading army of Babylon at this place (Jeremiah 6:1).

Beit Hakerem was a district center during the Persian Period, (Nehemiah 3:14). Archeological finds at Ramat Rachel have yielded dozens of seal impressions on jar handles from the 4th-3rd centuries BCE bearing the inscription yehud, the official name of the province of Judah in this period.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1883). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. 3. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. p. 20.
  2. ^ a b "Ramat Rahel - A Royal Citadel and a Palace of the Last Kings of Judah", Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, June 24 2001. Retrieved on September 9, 2011
  3. ^ "Bethhaccerem", Smith's Bible Dictionary. Retrieved on September 9, 2011.
  4. ^ Morris Jastrow Jr. and Frants Buhl. "BETH-HACCEREM", JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved on September 9, 2011
  5. ^ Neubauer’s Geography: Adolphe Neubauer, La Géographie du Talmud, Paris 1868, pp. 131 – 132, s.v. Jerome, Comm. ad Amos, VI, 1
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