- RAMA (Matthew 2:18), the Greek form of Ramah. (1.) A city first
mentioned in Joshua 18:25, near Gibeah of Benjamin. It was fortified by
Baasha, king of Israel (1 Kings 15:17-22; 2 Chronicles 16:1-6). Asa, king of
Judah, employed Benhadad the Syrian king to drive Baasha from this city
(1 Kings 15:18, 20). Isaiah (10:29) refers to it, and also Jeremiah, who was
once a prisoner there among the other captives of Jerusalem when it was
taken by Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 39:8-12; 40:1). Rachel, whose tomb
lies close to Bethlehem, is represented as weeping in Ramah (Jeremiah
31:15) for her slaughtered children. This prophecy is illustrated and
fulfilled in the re-awakening of Rachel’s grief at the slaughter of the infants
in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:18). It is identified with the modern village of
er-Ram, between Gibeon and Beeroth, about 5 miles due north of
Jerusalem. (See SAMUEL.)
(2.) A town identified with Rameh, on the border of Asher, about 13 miles
south-east of Tyre, “on a solitary hill in the midst of a basin of green
fields” (Joshua 19:29).
(3.) One of the “fenced cities” of Naphtali (Joshua 19:36), on a mountain
slope, about seven and a half miles west-south-west of Safed, and 15 miles
west of the north end of the Sea of Galilee, the present large and well-built
village of Rameh.
(4.) The same as Ramathaim-zophim (q.v.), a town of Mount Ephraim (1
Samuel 1:1, 19).
(5.) The same as Ramoth-gilead (q.v.), 2 Kings 8:29; 2 Chronicles 22:6.
- RAMATHAIM-ZOPHIM the two heights of the Zophites or of the
watchers (only in 1 Samuel 1:1), “in the land of Zuph” (9:5). Ramathaim is
another name for Ramah (4).
One of the Levitical families descended from Kohath, that of Zuph or
Zophai (1 Chronicles 6:26, 35), had a district assigned to them in Ephraim,
which from this circumstance was called “the land of Zuph,” and hence the
name of the town, “Zophim.” It was the birth-place of Samuel and the seat
of his authority (1 Samuel 2:11; 7:17). It is frequently mentioned in the
history of that prophet and of David (15:34; 16:13; 19:18-23). Here
Samuel died and was buried (25:1).
This town has been identified with the modern Neby Samwil (“the
prophet Samuel”), about 4 or 5 miles north-west of Jerusalem. But there is