Ramah in Benjamin
Encyclopedia
Ramah in Benjamin
is a city of ancient Israel
. It was located near Gibeon and Mizpah
to the West, Gibeah
to the South, and Geba
to the East. It is identified with modern Er-Ram
, about 8 km north of Jerusalem. The city is first mentioned in Joshua 18:25, near Gibeah of Benjamin. A Levite came traveling to Gibeah
, with Ramah just ahead. (Jg 19:11-15) It was fortified by Baasha, king of the northern kingdom (1 Kings 15:17-22; 2 Chr. 16:1-6). Asa
, king of the southern kingdom, employed Ben Hadad the Syrian king to attack Baasha at home and draw his forces away from this city (1 Kings 15:18, 20). When Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians, those taken captive were assembled in Ramah before being moved to Babylon
(Jeremiah 40:1). Jeremiah said: A voice was heard at Ramah, Rachel
was weeping over her sons, because they were no more. (Jer. 31:15). Rachel had so desired children that she considered herself dead without them. (Gen. 30:1) Jeremiah said that she was figuratively weeping because of the loss of the people killed or taken in captivity. And since she was the mother of Benjamin, it would fit because those in Ramah were Benjamites.
Ramah is the town that was home to Samuel's mother Hannah and his father Elkhana, from which they journeyed to the sanctuary at Shiloh, where Hannah prayed to God to end her barren-ness and give her a child. ( 1 Sam 1-2).
Ramah is mentioned in 1 Samual 8:4 in reference to a meeting place during Samuel's rule.
In the New Testament
, Ramah is mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew
(2:18) with reference to Jeremiah prophecy about Rachel, that is said to be fulfilled with the gruesome slaughter of boy children
when the Herod
was king:
Tribe of Benjamin
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Benjamin בִּנְיָמִין was one of the Tribes of Israel.From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BCE, the Tribe of Benjamin was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes...
is a city of ancient Israel
History of ancient Israel and Judah
Israel and Judah were related Iron Age kingdoms of ancient Palestine. The earliest known reference to the name Israel in archaeological records is in the Merneptah stele, an Egyptian record of c. 1209 BCE. By the 9th century BCE the Kingdom of Israel had emerged as an important local power before...
. It was located near Gibeon and Mizpah
Mizpah in Benjamin
Mizpah was a city of Benjamin.Tell en-Nasbeh is one of two sites often identified with Biblical Mizpah of Benjamin, and is located about 8 miles north of Jerusalem. The other suggested location is Neby Samwil, which is some 4 miles north-west of Jerusalem, and situated on the loftiest hill in the...
to the West, Gibeah
Gibeah
Gibeah is a biblical site identified by archaeologists as a hill in Jerusalem, on the outskirts of the Pisgat Ze'ev neighborhood, known as Tell el-Ful.-Etymology:...
to the South, and Geba
Geba
Geba - the hill, , a Levitical city of Benjamin on the north border of Judah adjacent to Ramah in Benjamin north of Gibeah. It has been identified with Jeb'a, about 5½ miles north of Jerusalem...
to the East. It is identified with modern Er-Ram
A-RAM
A-RAM, Advanced-Random Access Memory is a new DRAM memory based on single-transistor capacitor-less cells. A-RAM was invented in 2009 at the University of Granada, UGR in collaboration with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS . It was conceived by Dr. Noel Rodriguez , Prof....
, about 8 km north of Jerusalem. The city is first mentioned in Joshua 18:25, near Gibeah of Benjamin. A Levite came traveling to Gibeah
Gibeah
Gibeah is a biblical site identified by archaeologists as a hill in Jerusalem, on the outskirts of the Pisgat Ze'ev neighborhood, known as Tell el-Ful.-Etymology:...
, with Ramah just ahead. (Jg 19:11-15) It was fortified by Baasha, king of the northern kingdom (1 Kings 15:17-22; 2 Chr. 16:1-6). Asa
Asa of Judah
Asa was the third king of the Kingdom of Judah and the fifth king of the House of David. He was the son of Abijam, grandson of Rehoboam, and great-grandson of Solomon. The Hebrew Bible gives the period of his reign as 41 years. His reign is dated between 913-910 BCE to 873-869 BCE. He was...
, king of the southern kingdom, employed Ben Hadad the Syrian king to attack Baasha at home and draw his forces away from this city (1 Kings 15:18, 20). When Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians, those taken captive were assembled in Ramah before being moved to Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
(Jeremiah 40:1). Jeremiah said: A voice was heard at Ramah, Rachel
Rachel
Rachel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, is a prophet and the favorite wife of Jacob, one of the three Biblical Patriarchs, and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She was the daughter of Laban and the younger sister of Leah, Jacob's first wife...
was weeping over her sons, because they were no more. (Jer. 31:15). Rachel had so desired children that she considered herself dead without them. (Gen. 30:1) Jeremiah said that she was figuratively weeping because of the loss of the people killed or taken in captivity. And since she was the mother of Benjamin, it would fit because those in Ramah were Benjamites.
Ramah is the town that was home to Samuel's mother Hannah and his father Elkhana, from which they journeyed to the sanctuary at Shiloh, where Hannah prayed to God to end her barren-ness and give her a child. ( 1 Sam 1-2).
Ramah is mentioned in 1 Samual 8:4 in reference to a meeting place during Samuel's rule.
In the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, Ramah is mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
(2:18) with reference to Jeremiah prophecy about Rachel, that is said to be fulfilled with the gruesome slaughter of boy children
Massacre of the Innocents
The Massacre of the Innocents is an episode of infanticide by the King of Judea, Herod the Great. According to the Gospel of Matthew Herod orders the execution of all young male children in the village of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews whose birth...
when the Herod
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
was king:
- In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.