Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

MICHMASH

(Heb. miḵmāš, miḵmās)

An OT town located near the boundary between the tribes of Benjamin and Ephraim. The two variant spellings of the name, miḵmāś (1 Sam. 13–14; Neh. 11:31; Isa. 10:28) and miḵmās (Ezra 2:27), reflect diachronic developments in the Hebrew language.

Michmash is usually associated with the modern village of Mukhmâs (176142), ca. 11 km. (7 mi.) N of Jerusalem. The modern village stands on the northern cliff of a deep canyon, the Wadi eṣ-Òuweinîṭ. Recent surveying has also suggested that the ancient site can possibly be identified with Khirbet el-Hara el-Fawqa, 1 km. (ca. 0.6 mi.) N of Mukhmâs. The site guards a pass across a deep canyon, which immediately proceeds south to the biblical town of Geba (Jabaʿ) just on the other side of the canyon. This may be the pass mentioned in 1 Sam. 13:23; Isa. 10:28-29 (cf. Judg. 20:33).

Michmash figures most prominently in the early struggles between Saul’s incipient monarchy and the Philistines, as described in 1 Sam. 13–14. A Philistine outpost was stationed near Michmash, while the main Philistine garrison was probably located just to the west near Gibeon.

In the postexilic period, Michmash was a village under Persian rule (Neh. 11:31). Later, the Maccabean ruler Jonathan resided at Michmash before moving to Jerusalem (1 Macc. 9:73)

William M. Schniedewind

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

MICHMASH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)