Topic
Nephtoah
3 passages cited, from 3 classic reference works.
These works date from 1896–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Joshua 15:9Easton · ISBE · Nave A stream between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin
And the border was drawn from the top of the hill unto the fountain of the water of Nephtoah, and went out to the cities of mount Ephron; and the border was drawn to Baalah, which is Kirjath-jearim:
- Joshua 18:15Easton · ISBE · Nave A stream between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin
And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjath-jearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the well of waters of Nephtoah:
- Joshua 15:8Easton
And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem: and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of…
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 3 references
Opened, a fountain and a stream issuing from it on the border between Judah and Benjamin (Josh. 15:8, 9; 18:15). It has been identified with ‘Ain Lifta, a spring about 2 1/2 miles north-west of Jerusalem. Others, however, have identified it with ‘Ain’ Atan, on the south-west of Bethlehem, whence water is conveyed through “Pilate’s aqueduct” to the Haram area at Jerusalem.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 2 references
nef-to'-a, nef'-to-a (nephtoach, occurs only in the expression ma`yan me nephtoach, "the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah"; Septuagint pege hudatos Naphtho): This spring was on the border line between Judah and Benjamin (Jos 15:9; 18:15). The place is usually identified with Lifta, a village about 2 miles Northwest of Jerusalem, on the east bank of the Wady beit Hanina]. It is a village very conspicuous to the traveler along the high road from Jaffa as he nears Jerusalem. There are ancient rock-cut tombs and a copious spring which empties itself into a large masonry reservoir. The situation of Lifta seems to agree well with the most probable line of boundary between the two tribes; the spring as it is today does not appear to be so abundant as to warrant such an expression as "spring of the waters," but it was, like many such sources, probably considerably more abundant in Old Testament times.
Conder would identify Lifta with the ancient ELEPH (which see) of Benjamin, and, on the ground that the Talmud (see Talmud Babylonian, Yom' 31a) identifies Nephtoah with ETAM (which see), he would find the site of Nephtoah at `Ain `Atan, South of Bethlehem. The Talmud is not a sufficiently trustworthy guide when unsupported by other evidence, and the identification creates great difficulty with the boundary line. See Palestine Exploration Fund, III, 18, 43, Sh XVII.
E. W. G. Mastermin
In the topical indexes
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Nave's Topical Bible (1896), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.