Editing Achor

{{short description|Valley near Jericho}}
{{other uses}}
'''Achor''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|eɪ|k|ər}} ({{langx|he|עכור}} "muddy, turbid: gloomy, dejected"<ref>The New Bantam-Megiddo Hebrew & English Dictionary, Dr. Reuven Sivan and Dr. Edward A. Levenson, New York, 1975</ref>) is the name of a [[valley]] in the vicinity of [[Jericho]].

== History ==
The [[Book of Joshua]], [[Joshua 7|chapter seven]], relates the story from which the valley's name comes.  After the problems the [[Israelites]] had as a result of [[Achan (Bible)|Achan]]'s immoral theft of items commanded to be destroyed, the Israelite community stoned Achan and his household.  The narrative about Achan is [[etiological]], presenting a [[folk etymology]].<ref>[[Richard D. Nelson|Richard Nelson]] (1997), ''Joshua''. Louisville, Kentucky: [[Westminster John Knox Press]], p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Iwfg_zQHRR4C&pg=PA99 99]</ref>

Due to the nature of this narrative, the phrase ''valley of trouble'' became eminently proverbial and occurs elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible.  The [[Book of Isaiah]] and [[Book of Hosea]] use the term – ''the valley of trouble, a place for herds to lie down in'',<ref>Isaiah {{bibleverse-nb||Isaiah|65:10|HE}}</ref> ''the valley of trouble for a door of hope'',<ref>Hosea {{bibleverse-nb||Hosea|2:15|HE}}</ref> as a way of describing the redemption promised by God.

==Identification==
[[Eusebius]] (in ''Onomasticon'') and [[Jerome]] (in ''Book of Sites and Names of Hebrew Places'') implied that they thought it was a valley north of Jericho. In the nineteenth century some writers identified the valley with the [[wadi al-Qelt]], a deep ravine located to Jericho's south.<ref name='JE'>Moses Beer (1906), [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=A&artid=733 Accor], ''Jewish Encyclopedia''</ref>  In the twentieth century the [[Hyrcania (fortress)|Hyrcania]] valley (El-Buqei'a in Arabic) west and south of [[Qumran]], and [[Wadi en-Nu'eima]]<ref>{{coord|31|53|N|35|32|E|type:landmark}}</ref> have also been suggested.<ref>G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, Heinz-Josef Fabry (eds) (2000), ''Theological dictionary of the Old Testament'', vol. 11. Eerdmans, [https://books.google.com/books?id=TyJBBDlqdfwC&pg=PA71 p.71]</ref> One difficulty is that the narrative of Joshua<ref>{{bibleverse-nb||Joshua|7|HE}}</ref> appears to place the valley of Achor to the north of Jericho, between Jericho and [[Ai (Bible)|Ai]]; but Joshua<ref>{{bibleverse-nb||Joshua|15:7|HE}}</ref> makes the valley part of the boundary between the [[tribe of Judah]] and the [[tribe of Benjamin]], to the south of Jericho, but not as far south as El-Buqei'a.<ref>[[John H. Walton]], [[Victor Harold Matthews]], Mark William Chavalas (2004), ''The IVP Bible background commentary: Old Testament, 6th Edition''. [[InterVarsity Press]], p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wIA3tH9HqY4C&pg=PA220 220]</ref>

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
* {{EBD|wstitle=Achor}}
* {{JewishEncyclopedia|title=Achor |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=A&artid=733|author=[[Moses Beer]]}}

{{Authority control}}
{{coord|31.83686|N|35.399773|E|region:IL|display=title}}

[[Category:Hebrew Bible valleys]]
[[Category:Biblical Jericho]]