Valley of the Terebinth
Valley located about twenty kilometers southwest of Bethlehem. At the junction of Judea and the coastal plains, it was the scene of many battles between Israel and the Philistines.
Description
Jesus has just left Hebron, and he addresses his companions: "We will stop at the bottom of the Valley of the Terebinth and there, we will part ways".[1]
They return there later. To encourage his apostles to whom he asks to go preach, for the first time, Jesus takes them to a height and comments on the historic cities of Israel and the great events that took place there:
"They reach the top of the mountain. A wide panorama stretches out from there and it is beautiful to look at it standing in the shade of the thick trees which crown the top, so varied and sunny: overlapping chains stretching in every direction like petrified billows of an ocean lashed by opposite gales and then, as if in a calm gulf, everything subsides into an endless brightness showing a vast plain in which a little mountain rises, as solitary as a lighthouse at the entrance of a harbour. 'Look. That village spread along the crest, as if it wanted to enjoy all the sunshine, and where we will be stopping, is like the centre of a crown of historical places. Come here. There is (to the north) Jarmuth. Do you remember Joshua? The defeat of the kings who wanted to attack the camp of Israel, which was strengthened by the alliance with the Gibeonites. And near it there is Bethshemesh, the sacerdotal town in Judah where the Ark was returned by the Philistines with the gold votive offerings prescribed by the diviners and priests to the people to be freed from the calamities that had struck the guilty Philistines. And over there is Zorah, lying completely in the sun, Samson’s fatherland, and a little to the east Timnath where he got married and where he performed many brave deeds and did so many foolish things. And there are Azekah and Shochoh, formerly Philistine camps. Further down is Zanoah, one of the towns in Judah. Now turn around, here is the Valley of the Terebinth, where David fought Goliath. And over there is Makkedah, where Joshua defeated the Amorites. Turn around again. Can you see that solitary mountain in the middle of the plain, which once belonged to the Philistines? Gath is there, Goliath’s fatherland and the place where David took refuge with Achish to escape from the mad rage of Saul, and where the wise king pretended he was mad because the world defends fools from wise people. Where the horizon opens out, there are the plains of the very fertile land of the Philistines. We will go through there, as far as Ramlé. And now let us enter Bethginna.'"[2]
Its name
Valley of the Terebinth(s), Nahal ha'Elah in Hebrew, wadi es Sunt in Arabic. It is named after the terebinths (Elah in Hebrew) that grow there. The terebinth is a type of pistachio tree.
Where is it mentioned in the work?
Learn more about this place
The Valley of the Terebinth, seven kilometers long, oriented east to west, then northwest, is the valley of the wadi es-Sant, about twenty kilometers southwest of Bethlehem. It is the valley that separated Judea from the land of the Philistines. It is there that David defeated Goliath.[3]
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- 31° 41’ 31’’ N / 34° 56’ 50’’ E /
- +240m.