Nephtoah standard
jamin (Jos 15:9; 18:15). The place is usually identified with Lifta, a village about 2 miles Northwest of Jerusalem, on the east bank of the Wady beit Hanina].
Where is Nephtoah in the Bible?
Nephtoah was a spring located in the hill country near Jerusalem that served as a boundary marker between the territories of Judah and Benjamin during the ancient Israelite period. It appears in the Book of Joshua (15:9 and 18:15) as part of the description of tribal land divisions following the conquest of Canaan. Scholars typically identify Nephtoah with Lifta, a village situated approximately two miles northwest of Jerusalem, which features ancient rock-cut tombs and a copious spring that flows into a stone reservoir. The spring's strategic location along the major road from Jaffa to Jerusalem made it a natural and significant boundary point between these two important tribal territories.
In Scripture1 biblical book; 1 with study content
- Joshua
Nephtoah
ISBE 1915 (Public Domain)jamin (Jos 15:9; 18:15). The place is usually identified with Lifta, a village about 2 miles Northwest of Jerusalem, on the east bank of the Wady beit Hanina]. It is a village very conspicuous to the traveler along the high road from Jaffa as he nears Jerusalem. There are ancient rock-cut tombs and a copious spring which empties itself into a large masonry reservoir. The situation of Lifta seems to agree well with the most probable line of boundary between the two tribes; the spring as it is today does not appear to be so abundant as to warrant such an expression as "spring of the waters," but it was, like many such sources, probably considerably more abundant in Old Testament times.
Conder would identify Lifta with the ancient ELEPH (which see) of Benjamin, and, on the ground that the Talmud (see Talmud Babylonian, Yom' 31a) identifies Nephtoah with ETAM (which see), he would find the site of Nephtoah at `Ain `Atan, South of Bethlehem. The Talmud is not a sufficiently trustworthy guide when unsupported by other evidence, and the identification creates great difficulty with the boundary line. See Palestine Exploration Fund, III, 18, 43, Sh XVII.
E. W. G. Mastermin
ne-fush'-e-sim, ne-fish'-e-sim (nephushecim, nephishecim): The former is the Kethibh (Hebrew "written") form of the name adopted in the Revised Version (British and American); the latter the Qere (Heb