Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

KIRIATH-JEARIM

Village on the road from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) northwest of Jerusalem. Excavations by the French revealed a settlement 7,000 years old in which the residents changed from grazing to farming. Its modern name is Abu Ghosh, so named after a family of Arab sheiks who robbed pilgrims en route to Jerusalem until Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt terminated the practice early in the 19th century. The Crusaders mistakenly identified this village as Emmaus, where Jesus revealed himself to two people after his resurrection (Lk 24:13). Because of this, they built a church there (in the 12th century). The massive walls of the church were built over the remains of a Roman fort where Titus had stationed his veterans of the Jewish Revolt. The large crypt under the church contains a spring, mentioned in memoirs of the First Crusade as the “Emmaus Spring.”

In the time of the judges this village was one of the four cities of the Gibeonites who, under false pretenses, made a mutual defense pact with Joshua and the elders of Israel (Jos 9:3-27). Because it was on the border between Judah and Benjamin, it was integrated into the tribe of Judah (15:9; 18:14). During the time of Samuel, after the Philistines captured the ark (1 Sm 4:11) and found its possession to be dangerous, they were advised to return it to Israel. This they did; the ark arrived in Beth-shemesh, where 70 men who peered into it perished. Because of the danger its presence presented, it was sent on to Kiriath-jearim, where it remained in the house of Abinadab (1 Sm 7:1) for 20 years. One of King David’s first official acts after arriving in Jerusalem was to bring the ark from Baalah (Kiriath-jearim) to Obed-edom’s house, then on to Jerusalem (2 Sm 6).

Uriah the prophet, who condemned the reign of King Jehoiakim and was later executed (Jer 26:20-23), was a native of Kiriath-jearim. Among the returnees from the exile were citizens originally from Kiriath-jearim (Ezr 2:25; Neh 7:29).