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Anathoth

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History

Anathoth was a town of Benjamin about 4 km north-east of Jerusalem. Its name lives on in the Arab village of 'Anata; Josephus puts it twenty furlongs from Jerusalem and Eusebius at the third milestone. Whether the ancient town lay under the village or on the nearby hill of Ras el-Kharrubeh, where trial soundings were made in 1936, is disputed. The name may recall the Canaanite goddess Anat.

Joshua lists Anathoth among the cities given to the sons of Aaron, the priests. Two of David's mighty men, Abiezer and Jehu, came from here. Abiathar the priest had sided with Adonijah, and Solomon, instead of putting him to death, sent him home to his fields at Anathoth. In Isaiah's picture of an enemy marching on Jerusalem from the north, "poor Anathoth" is one of the places on the way.

Anathoth is best known as the home of Jeremiah, "of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin". Its men sought his life and told him not to prophesy in the name of the LORD. During the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, Jeremiah bought the field of his cousin Hanameel at Anathoth by the right of redemption, as a sign that "Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land". When he tried to leave the city for the land of Benjamin, he was seized as a deserter; Josephus says he was on his way to Anathoth.

After the exile 128 men of Anathoth came back from Babylon, and in Nehemiah's day the town was again lived in by Benjamites. In the fourth century Eusebius still knew Anathoth near Jerusalem as the home of Jeremiah. Pottery of the Iron Age and of Hellenistic times has been found at 'Anata, and remains of a Byzantine church show that the village was lived in during late antiquity.

Scripture: Josh 21:13; Josh 21:17–18; 2 Sam 23:27; 1 Chr 12:3; 1 Kgs 1:7; 1 Kgs 2:26; Isa 10:28–32; Jer 1:1; Jer 11:21–23; Jer 32:6–15; Jer 37:12–13; Ezra 2:23; Neh 7:27; Neh 11:31–32

Sources

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Verses (18)

Josh 21:18
Anathoth with her suburbs, and Almon with her suburbs; four cities.
2 Sam 23:27
Abiezer the Anethothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite,
1 Kgs 2:26
And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.
1 Chr 6:60
And out of the tribe of Benjamin; Geba with her suburbs, and Alemeth with her suburbs, and Anathoth with her suburbs. All their cities throughout their families were thirteen cities.
1 Chr 11:28
Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abi-ezer the Antothite,
1 Chr 12:3
The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel, and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; and Berachah, and Jehu the Antothite,
1 Chr 27:12
The ninth captain for the ninth month was Abi-ezer the Anetothite, of the Benjamites: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
Ezra 2:23
The men of Anathoth, an hundred twenty and eight.
Neh 7:27
The men of Anathoth, an hundred twenty and eight.
Neh 11:32
And at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah,
Isa 10:30
Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.
Jer 1:1
The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
Jer 11:21
Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die not by our hand:
Jer 11:23
And there shall be no remnant of them: for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.
Jer 29:27
Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you?
Jer 32:7
Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.
Jer 32:8
So Hanameel mine uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
Jer 32:9
And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.

King James Version

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