Mahanaim (meaning
two camps in
HebrewHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Culturally, it is considered a Jewish language. Hebrew in its modern form is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel while Classical Hebrew has been used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world for over...
) is a place near Jabbok, beyond the
Jordan RiverThe Jordan River or River Jordan is a river in Southwest Asia which flows into the Dead Sea. It is considered to be one of the world's most sacred rivers...
, mentioned a number of times by the
BibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
. The precise location of Mahanaim is very uncertain, the Biblical data being inconclusive. Although two possible sites have been identified, the one most widely accepted lies about ten miles east of Jordan River. The other is located nine miles farther upstream on the Jabbok River itself.
Mahanaim (meaning
two camps in
HebrewHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Culturally, it is considered a Jewish language. Hebrew in its modern form is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel while Classical Hebrew has been used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world for over...
) is a place near Jabbok, beyond the
Jordan RiverThe Jordan River or River Jordan is a river in Southwest Asia which flows into the Dead Sea. It is considered to be one of the world's most sacred rivers...
, mentioned a number of times by the
BibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
. The precise location of Mahanaim is very uncertain, the Biblical data being inconclusive. Although two possible sites have been identified, the one most widely accepted lies about ten miles east of Jordan River. The other is located nine miles farther upstream on the Jabbok River itself. Mahanaim was in the same general area as
Jabesh-gileadJabesh-Gilead is an ancient town referred to in four books of the Old Testament. Some biblical scholars believe it to have been located east of the Jordan River, in the vicinity of Wadi Yabes....
.
The location is first mentioned by the bible as the place where
JacobJacob , also known as Israel , was the third Biblical patriarch and ancestor of the twelve tribes of Israel, named after ten of his twelve sons, as well as the two sons of his son Joseph.The Bible says...
, returning from
Padan-aramPadan-aram, Paddan-aram, Padan, or Paddan, in the Hebrew Bible, refers to the plain or field of Aram-Naharaim, or the plain of the highlands, that part of Aram that lay in the Euphrates River valley...
to southern
CanaanCanaan is an ancient term for a region encompassing modern-day Israel and Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, plus adjoining coastal lands and parts of Jordan, Syria and northeastern Egypt...
, had a vision of angels (Gen. 32:2), and as a result divided his retinue into
two hosts, hence the town built there afterwards took
two hosts as its name This is regarded as a clear case of folk etymology for the place name by most
critical scholarsBiblical criticism is "the study and investigation of biblical writings that seeks to make discerning and discriminating judgments about these writings." It asks when and where a particular text originated; how, why, by whom, for whom, and in what circumstances it was produced; what influences were...
, and although the form of the name appears to be dual (hence
two ...), many scholars at the present day prefer to regard the termination in this case as a corruption of a shorter ending. From the point of view of critical scholars, the place name was originally
host, and this and the presence of angels in the story, is thought instead to derive from Mahanaim having been a sanctuary from very early times. According to the Biblical narrative it became a Levitical city (Joshua 13:26, 13:30, 21:38; cf. 1 Chronicles 6:80), though according to critical scholars it had always been a city associated with holiness.
The dance of Mahanaim is mentioned in Song of Solomon 6:13.
According to the Biblical narrative it had been the southern boundary of
BashanBashan or Basan is a biblical place first mentioned in , where it is said that Chedorlaomer and his confederates "smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth," where Og the king of Bashan had his residence. At the time of Israel's entrance into the Promised Land, Og came out against them, but was utterly routed...
until the conquest of
CanaanCanaan is an ancient term for a region encompassing modern-day Israel and Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, plus adjoining coastal lands and parts of Jordan, Syria and northeastern Egypt...
by the Israelites (Josh. 13:26, 30), and after the conquest, it became the boundary between
MachirMachir/Makir - meaning bartered - was the name of two figures in the Bible.1. Machir, the son of Manasseh, and father of Gilead.In the Torah's account of the journey of the Israelites after the Exodus, Machir is portrayed as conquering the territories known as Gilead and Bashan, which had...
(the eastern
half-tribe of ManassehManasseh may refer to:*Manasseh, a son of Joseph, according to the Torah*the Tribe of Manasseh, an Israelite tribe*Manasseh of Judah, a king of the kingdom of Judah....
) and
GileadFrom the Scriptures, "Gilead" means hill of testimony or mound of witness, , a mountainous region east of the Jordan River, situated in the present-day Kingdom of Jordan. It is also referred to by the Aramaic name Yegar-Sahadutha, which carries the same meaning as the Hebrew...
(later known as
GadAccording to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Gad was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes. The Tribe of Gad was allocated a region to the east of the...
). However, according to some critical scholars, the conquest never happened , and the Israelites were simply Canaanites who had undergone a smooth cultural evolution; here the implication being that Machir was simply the newer name of Bashan, and the reason for the border between Machir and Gilead being placed there being that that was where it had always been.
In the Biblical narrative, around the start of the
United MonarchyThe united Kingdom of Israel was a kingdom in the Land of Israel according to the Bible, a period referred to by scholars as the United Monarchy.-Background:...
, the city was a stronghold that had been adapted to serve as a sanctuary for important fugitives (2 Samuel 18:2); the narrative states that after King
SaulSaul was the first king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible. He was anointed by the prophet Samuel and reigned from Gibeah...
died,
AbnerIn the Book of Samuel, Abner , is first cousin to Saul and commander-in-chief of his army .-Biography:...
, the commander of Saul’s army, established Saul’s son,
Ish-boshethIsh-bosheth also called Eshbaal , Ashbaal or Ishbaal, appears in the Hebrew Bible. He was born in c. 1047 BCE and was one of the four sons of King Saul with Ahinoam, daughter of Ahimaaz...
, in Mahanaim as king of Israel (2 Sam 2:8). Mahanaim is also the location to which David is described as fleeing, when his son
AbsalomAbsalom or Avshalom was the third son of David, king of Israel with Maachah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. describes him as the most handsome man in the kingdom...
rebelled; having arrived at Mahanaim, David is described as having been entertained by a man named Barzillai, and having mustered forces there to combat
AbsalomAbsalom or Avshalom was the third son of David, king of Israel with Maachah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. describes him as the most handsome man in the kingdom...
's army. It is also the location that the bible states was the place where David was informed about his victory over Absalom, and the death of his son.
According to
MasperoPeople with the name Maspero include:*Gaston Maspero , French Egyptologist, father of Henri*Henri Maspero , French sinologist, son of Gaston, father of François*François Maspero , French author and journalist, son of Henri...
("The Struggle of the Nations," p. 773), Mahanaim was among the cities plundered by Shishak during his invasion (I Kings 14:25) of Israelitish territory. There is no subsequent reference to the city in the annals, and it is not improbable that a vigorous resistance to Shishak or to some other invader brought about its utter demolition.