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[2] :"We have reached the top of the mountain. A wide panorama (Judea) opens up at this spot, and it is pleasant to contemplate in the shade of the terebinth trees crowning the summit, an entanglement of mountain ranges so varied and sunlit that they stretch in all directions like the petrified blades of an ocean beaten by contrary winds, and then, like in a quiet bay, everything calms into a splendor of boundless light that precedes a vast plain, where rises solitary like a lighthouse at the entrance of a port, a small mountain. "Here. This country that stretches along the ridge, as if to fully enjoy the sun, and where we will stay, is like the pivot of a fan of historic places. Come here. There (to the north) Jarmuth. Do you remember Joshua? The defeat of the kings who wanted to assault the camp of Israel made powerful by the Covenant with the Gibeonites. And very close, Beth Shemesh (Betsames), the priestly city of Judah, where the Philistines returned the Ark with the golden vows imposed on the people by the soothsayers and priests to be freed from the plagues tormenting the guilty Philistines. And over there, all sunlit, Zorah (Soréa, Çoréa), the Homeland of Samson and a little further east Timnath, where he took a woman and performed so many feats and follies. And there Azekah (Azeco) and Soko, then a Philistine camp, even lower is Zanoah, one of the cities of Judea. And here, turn around, here is the Valley of the Terebinth where David defeated Goliath. And there is Makkedah, where Joshua defeated the Amorites. Turn again. Do you see that solitary mountain in the middle of the plain that once belonged to the Philistines? There lies Gath, Homeland of Goliath and refuge for David near Akish (Achis) to flee Saul’s mad fury and where the wise king pretended madness because the world defends fools against the wise. This open horizon is the plains of the very fertile land of the Philistines. We will go that way to Ramlé and now enter Bet-Ginna."
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?
EMV 79 EMV 215
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].
Explore
- 31° 41’ 31’’ N / 34° 56’ 50’’ E /
- +240m.