Place · City
Michmash
Also known as Michmas
Named in 9 verses across 3 books, first in 1 Samuel 13:2.
In the Bible
All 9 verses, in Bible order. Text from the Berean Standard Bible; verse numbers follow the KJV.
1 Samuel
- 1 Samuel 13:2
He chose for himself three thousand men of Israel: Two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. And the rest of the troops he sent away, each to his own home.
- 1 Samuel 13:5
Now the Philistines assembled to fight against Israel with three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.
- 1 Samuel 13:11
“What have you done?” Samuel asked. And Saul replied, “When I saw that the troops were deserting me, and that you did not come at the appointed time and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash,
- 1 Samuel 13:16
Now Saul and Jonathan his son and the troops with them were staying in Geba of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Michmash.
- 1 Samuel 13:23
And a garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass at Michmash.
- 1 Samuel 14:5
One cliff stood to the north toward Michmash, and the other to the south toward Geba.
- 1 Samuel 14:31
That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Michmash to Aijalon, the people were very faint.
Nehemiah
- Nehemiah 11:31
The descendants of Benjamin from Geba lived in Michmash, Aija, and Bethel with its villages;
Isaiah
- Isaiah 10:28
Assyria has entered Aiath and passed through Migron, storing their supplies at Michmash.
Dictionary
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), as attached to this record by Theographic. Its geography and “modern” descriptions date from the 1890s. Easton wrote in 1897, and some of his views are now debated.
Read Easton’s entry
Something hidden, a town of Benjamin (Ezra 2:27), east of Bethel and south of Migron, on the road to Jerusalem (Isa. 10:28). It lay on the line of march of an invading army from the north, on the north side of the steep and precipitous Wady es-Suweinit (“valley of the little thorn-tree” or “the acacia”), and now bears the name of Mukhmas. This wady is called “the passage of Michmash” (1 Sam. 13:23). Immediately facing Mukhmas, on the opposite side of the ravine, is the modern representative of Geba, and behind this again are Ramah and Gibeah.
This was the scene of a great battle fought between the army of Saul and the Philistines, who were utterly routed and pursued for some 16 miles towards Philistia as far as the valley of Aijalon. “The freedom of Benjamin secured at Michmash led through long years of conflict to the freedom of all its kindred tribes.” The power of Benjamin and its king now steadily increased. A new spirit and a new hope were now at work in Israel.