Editing Ramoth-Gilead

{{Short description|Ancient city in the Transjordan}}

'''Ramoth-Gilead''' ({{langx|he|רָמֹת גִּלְעָד|Rāmōṯ Gilʿāḏ}}, meaning "Heights of Gilead"), was a [[Levitical city]] and [[Cities of Refuge|city of refuge]] east of the [[Jordan River]] in the [[Hebrew Bible]], also called "Ramoth in Gilead" ({{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|4:43|KJV}}; {{bibleverse|Joshua|20:8|KJV}}; {{bibleverse|Joshua|21:38|KJV}}) or "Ramoth Galaad" in the [[Douay–Rheims Bible]]. It was located in the tribal territorial allotment of the [[tribe of Gad]].

==Biblical events==
[[File:Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 118.png|thumb|''Death of Ahab'', from ''[[commons:Die Bibel in Bildern|Die Bibel in Bildern]]'']]

According to ({{bibleverse|1|Kings|4:13|KJV}}), Ramoth-Gilead was the base of [[List of minor biblical figures, A–K#Ben Geber|Ben-Geber]], one of [[King Solomon]]'s regional governors. He was responsible for ("to him belonged") the [[Havoth-Jair|towns]] of [[Jair]] the son of [[Manasseh (tribal patriarch)|Manasseh]], in Gilead and the region of [[Argob]] in [[Bashan]]: sixty large cities with walls and bronze gate-bars.<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Kings|4:13|KJV}}</ref>

It appears to have been lost to Syria ([[Aram-Damascus]]) during the battles between the [[Northern Kingdom of Israel|northern kingdom of Israel]] and Syria, as [[Ahab]], King of Israel, proposed to go to battle to win it back.<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Kings|22:3|KJV}}</ref> After consulting prophets about the prospects of success, Ahab went to fight for Ramoth in Gilead, aided by [[Jehoshaphat]], King of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]]. During the battle, Ahab was wounded by an arrow. He was propped up in his chariot facing the enemy, but by evening Ahab had bled to death and the Syrians won the battle.<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Kings|22:9-37|KJV}}; {{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|18:34|NKJV}}</ref>

Later, an incident occurred when [[Ahaziah of Judah|Ahaziah]] and [[Jehoram of Israel|Joram]] fought against [[Hazael]], king of [[Aram-Damascus]], and Joram was wounded ([[2 Kings 8:28]]).

Also in this city, [[Elisha]], the prophet of God told one of the sons of the prophets to anoint [[Jehu]], Joram's commander, king over Israel ({{bibleverse|2|Kings|9:1-6|KJV}}).

The British Bible scholar, [[Hugh J. Schonfield]] theorized that the location of [[Armageddon]], mentioned only in the [[New Testament]], at ({{bibleverse||Revelation|16:16|KJV}}), is a [[Koine Greek|Greek]] garbling of a supposed late [[Aramaic]] name for Ramoth-Gilead; that this location, having anciently belonged to the Hebrew tribe of Gad, was, in New Testament times, part of the Greek region known as the [[Decapolis]], it was (Schonfield theorized) known as ''Rama-Gad-Yavan'' (Yavan meaning Greek), which when translated into Greek became Armageddon (much as [[Ramathaim]] was translated to Aramathea).<ref>Schonfield, Hugh J., ''The Bible Was Right: An Astonishing Examination of the New Testament'' (1959, NY, New American Library) chap. 48, pages 181-185. This suppositious Greek rendering does not occur in the [[Septuagint]].</ref>

==Location==
It has been tentatively identified with Reimun, on the northern slope of the [[Zarqa River]], about {{convert|5|mi|sp=us}} west of [[Jerash]] or Gerasa, one of the cities of the [[Decapolis]].<ref>Easton, Matthew George, ''Illustrated Bible Dictionary'' (3rd ed., 1897, London, T. Nelson & Sons) s.v. "Ramoth-Gilead".</ref>

Other possible locations include:{{citation needed|date=July 2014}}
#[[Tell er-Rumeith]], about 3 miles south of [[ar-Ramtha]], Jordan<ref>National Geographic Magazine, map ''Holy Land Today'', Dec. 1963, atlas plate 52; Pritchard, James B., ed., ''The Harper Concise Atlas of the Bible'' (1991, London, Times Books) index and passim (this book uses maps from the 1987 ''The [London] Times Atlas of the Bible''); Irvine, Stuart A., ''The Southern Border of Syria Reconstructed'', The Catholic Bible Quarterly, vol. 56, nr.1 (Jan. 1994) page 30. Several other Bible atlases locate Ramoth-Gilead in the same general vicinity without bothering to provide its current name. The precise location of the biblical site, as distinguished from more recent abandoned settlements, is not completely certain, but is probably N 32° 29′ 25″, E 35° 52′ 49″, according to a map page of the [[Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft|German Bible Society]]. [http://www.bibelwissenschaft.de/wibilex/das-bibellexikon/lexikon/sachwort/anzeigen/details/ramot-gilead/ch/b8bd2d02bd79bad85f558478f782e331/].</ref><ref>Knauf, E. A., 2001: The Mists of Ramthalon, or, How Ramoth-Gilead disappeared from the Archaeological Record. BN 110, 33–36.</ref><ref>Finkelstein, I., Lipschits, O., and Sergi, O. 2013. Tell er-Rumeith in Northern Jordan: Some Archaeological and Historical Observations. Semitica 55: 7-23.</ref>
#[[as-Salt]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://acor.digitalrelab.com/index.php?s=filter=place_name:Rumeith%20(Jordan),%20Tall%20Rumeith%20(Jordan) Photos of Rumeith] at the [[American Center of Research]]

{{eastons|Ramoth-Gilead}}

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[[Category:Torah cities]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible cities]]
[[Category:Levitical cities]]
[[Category:Jerash]]
[[Category:Book of Deuteronomy]]
[[Category:Book of Joshua]]