Difference between revisions of "En-Rogel"

<p> '''''en''''' -'''''rō´gel''''' ( עין רגל , <i> '''''‛ēn rōghēl''''' </i> ; πηγὴ Ῥωγήλ , <i> '''''pēgḗ Rhōgḗl''''' </i> ; meaning uncertain, but interpreted by some to mean "the spring of the fuller"): </p> <p> No argument from this meaning can be valid because (1) it is a very doubtful rendering and (2) "fulling" vats are common in the neighborhood of most town springs and are today plentiful at both the proposed sites. G. A. [[Smith]] thinks "spring of the current," or "stream," from [[Syriac]] <i> '''''rogûlo''''' </i> , more probable. </p> <p> (1) En-rogel was an important landmark on the boundary between [[Judah]] and [[Benjamin]] (Joshua 15:7; Joshua 18:16 ). Here David's spies, [[Jonathan]] and Ahimaaz, hid themselves (2 Samuel 17:17 ), and here (1 Kings 1:9 ) "Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En-rogel," when he anticipated his father's death and caused himself rebelliously to be proclaimed king. </p> <p> (2) The identification of this important landmark is of first-class importance in [[Jerusalem]] topography. Two sites have been proposed: </p> <p> ( <i> a </i> ) The older view identifies En-rogel with the spring known variously as "the Virgin's Fount," <i> '''''‛Ain sitti Miriam''''' </i> and <i> '''''‛Ain Umm el deraj''''' </i> , an intermittent source of water which rises in a cave on the West side of the [[Kedron]] valley opposite [[Siloam]] (see [[Gihon]] ). The arguments that this is the one Jerusalem spring and that this must have been a very important landmark are inconclusive. The strongest argument for this view is that put forward by M. Clermont-Ganneau, who found that a rough rock surface on the mountain slope opposite, an ascent to the village of <i> '''''Silwân''''' </i> , is known as <i> '''''es Zeḥweleh''''' </i> , a word in which there certainly appears to linger an echo of Zoheleth. The argument is, however, not as convincing as it seems. Firstly, [[Zoheleth]] was a stone; this is a natural rock scarp; such a stone might probably have been transferred from place to place. Secondly, it is quite common for a name to be transferred some miles; instances are numerous. Thirdly, the writer, after frequent inquiries of the <i> '''''fellahı̂n''''' </i> of <i> '''''Silwân''''' </i> , is satisfied that the name is by no means confined to the rock scarp near the spring, but to the whole ridge running along from here to, or almost to, <i> '''''Bı̂r Eyyûb''''' </i> itself. The strongest argument against this identification is, however, that there are so much stronger reasons for identifying the "Virgin's Fount" with [[Gihon]] (see [[Gihon]] ), and that the two springs En-rogel and Gihon cannot be at one site, as is clear from the narrative in 1 Ki 1. </p> <p> ( <i> b </i> ) The view which places En-rogel at <i> '''''Bı̂r Eyyûb''''' </i> in every way harmonizes with the [[Bible]] data. It has been objected that the latter is not a spring but a well. It is today a well, 125 ft. deep, but one with an inexhaustible supply - there must be a true spring at the bottom. [[Probably]] one reason it only overflows today after periods of heavy rain is that such enormous quantities of débris have now covered the original valley bed that the water cannot rise to the surface; much of it flows away down the valley deep under the present surface. The water is brackish and is impregnated with sewage, which is not extraordinary when we remember that a large part of the rock strata from which the water comes is overlaid by land constantly irrigated with the city's sewage. </p> <p> Although the well may itself be of considerable antiquity, there is no need to insist that this is the <i> exact position </i> of the original spring En-rogel. The source may in olden times have arisen at some spot in the valley bottom which is now deeply buried under the rubbish, perhaps under the southernmost of the irrigated gardens of the <i> '''''fellahı̂n''''' </i> of <i> '''''Silwân''''' </i> . The neighborhood, at the junction of two deep valleys - not to count the small <i> '''''el wâd''''' </i> , the ancient [[Tyropceon]] - is a natural place for a spring. There would appear to have been considerable disturbance here. An enormous amount of débris from various destructions of the city has collected here, but, besides this, [[Josephus]] records a tradition which appears to belong to this neighborhood. He says ( <i> Ant. </i> , IX, x, 4) that an earthquake took place once at [[Eroge]] - which appears to be En-rogel - when "half of the mountain broke off from the remainder on the West, and rolling 4 furlongs, came to stand on the eastern mountain till the roads, as well as the .king's gardens, were blocked." It is sufficient that En-rogel is to be located either at <i> '''''Bı̂r Eyyûb''''' </i> or in its immediate neighborhood; for practical purposes the former will do. En-rogel was an important point on the boundary line between Judah and Benjamin. The line passed down the lower end of the [[Kidron]] valley, past En-rogel ( <i> '''''Bı̂r Eyyûb''''' </i> ) and then up the [[Valley]] of [[Hinnom]] ( <i> '''''Wady er Rabābi''''' </i> ) - a boundary well adapted to the natural conditions. </p> <p> With regard to David's spies (2 Samuel 17:17 ), whereas the Virgin's Fount - the great source of the city's water supply (see [[Gihon]] ) - just below the city walls (see [[Zion]] ) was an impossible place of hiding, this lower source, out of sight of almost the whole city and removed a considerable distance from its nearest point, was at least a possible place. Further, the facts that it was off the main road, that it afforded a supply of one of the main necessities of life - water - and that there were, as there are today, many natural caves in the neighborhood, greatly added to its suitability. </p> <p> Here too was a most appropriate place for Adonijah's plot (1 Kings 1:9 ). He and his confederates dared not go to Gihon, the original sacred spring, but had to content themselves with a spot more secluded, though doubtless still sacred. It is recorded (1 Kings 1:40 , 1 Kings 1:41 ) that the adherents of [[Solomon]] saluted him at Gihon (the Virgin's Fount) and the people "rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them. And [[Adonijah]] and all the guests that were with him (at En-rogel) heard it as they had made an end of eating." The relative positions of these two springs allow of a vivid reconstruction of the narrative as do no other proposed identifications. The two spots are out of sight the one of the other, but not so far that the shout of a multitude at the one could not be carried to the other. </p>

<p> (Hebrews Eyn Rcgel', עֵין רֹגֵל , fount of the treader, q.v. foot-fountain; construed by Furst, after the Targums, with the Arabic and [[Syriac]] versions, "Fullers' Spring," because fullers trode the clothes in the water; but [[Gesenius]] renders "fountain of the spy;" Sept. πηγὴ ῾Ρωγήλ, Vulg. fons Rogel), a spring which formed one of the landmarks on the boundary-line between [[Judah]] (Joshua 15:7) and [[Benjamin]] (18:16). It was the point next to Jerusalem, and at a lower level, as is evident from the use of the words " ascended" and "descended" in these two passages. Here, apparently concealed from the view of the city, [[Jonathan]] and [[Ahimaaz]] remained, after the flight of David, awaiting intelligence from within the walls (2 Samuel 17:17), and here, "by the stone Zoheleth, which is 'close to' (אֵצֶל ) En-rogel," [[Adonijah]] held the feast, which was the first and last act of his attempt on the crown (1 Kings 1:9). By Josephus, on the last incident (Ant. 7:14, 4), its situation is given as "without the city, in the royal garden," and it is without doubt referred to by him in the same connection, in his description of the earthquake which accompanied the sacrilege of [[Uzziah]] (Ant. 9:10, 4), and which, "at the place called Erove" (Ε᾿ρωγῆ v.r. Ε᾿ῤῤωγῆ ), shook down a part of the [[Eastern]] hill, "so as to obstruct the roads, and the royal gardens." In more modern times, a tradition, apparently first recorded by Quaresmius, would make En-rogel identical with what is now called by the [[Franks]] the well of Nehemiah, and by the natives that of Job (Bir-Eyub). Robinson describes it as "a deep well situated just below the junction of the valley of [[Hinnom]] with that of Jehoshaphat. The small oblong plain there formed is covered with an olive- grove, and with the traces of former gardens extending down the valley from the present gardens of Siloam. Indeed, this whole spot is the prettiest and most fertile around Jerusalem. The vell is very deep, of an irregular quadrilateral form, walled up with large squared stones, terminating above in an arch on one side, and apparently of great antiquity. There is a small rude building over it, furnished with one or two large troughs or reservoirs of stone, which are kept partially filled for the convenience of the people. The well measures 125 feet in depth, 50 feet of which was now full of water. The water is sweet, but not very cold, and is at the present day drawn up by the hand. In the rainy season the well becomes quite full, and sometimes overflows at the mouth. Usually, however, the water runs,off under the surface of thie ground, and finds an outlet some forty yards below the well, whence it is said to flow for sixty or seventy days in winter, and the stream is sometimes large" (Researches, 1:490). In favor of this identification is the fact that in the Arabic version of Joshua 15:7 the name of Ain-Eyub, or "spring of Job," is given for En-rogel, and also that in an early [[Jewish]] [[Itinerary]] (Uri of Biel, in Hottinger's Cippi Hebraici, page 48) the name is given as "well of Joab," as if retaining the memory of Joab's connection with Adonijah — a name which it still retains in the traditions of the [[Greek]] [[Christians]] (Williams, [[Holy]] City, 2:490). Against this general belief the following strong but not conclusive arguments are urged by Bonar in favor of identifying En-rogel with the present "Fountain of the Virgin," 'Ain Ummed-Daraj — "spring of the mother of steps"-the perennial source from which the [[Pool]] of [[Siloam]] is supplied (Land of Promise, App. 5): </p> <p> 1. The Bir Eyub is a wel and not a spring (En), while, on the other hand, the "Fountain of the Virgin" is the only real spring close to Jerusalem. This objection, however, as the above description shows, but partially applies. </p> <p> 2. The situation of the [[Fountain]] of the [[Virgin]] agrees somewhat better with the course of the boundary of Benjamii than that of the Bir Eyub, which is rather too far south. This objection, however, does not apply to the original boundary of Benjamin, which necessarily followed the valley of Siloam. (See [[Tribe]]). </p> <p> 3. Bir Eyub does not altogether suit the requirements of 2 Samuel 17:17. It is too far off both from the city, and from the direct road over [[Olivet]] to the Jordan, and is in full view of the city (Van de Velde, 1:475), which the other spot is not. But we may readily suppose that a more retired route and a secluded spot would have been chosen for concealment. </p> <p> 4. The martyrdom of St. James (q.v.) was effected by casting him down from the temple wall into the valley of Kedron, where he was finally killed by a fuller with his washing-stick (Eusebius, Hist. Ecclesiastes 2:23). The natural inference is that the martyred apostle fell near where the fullers were at work. Now Bir Eyub is too far off from the site of the temple to allow of this, but it might very well have happened at the Fountain of the Virgin. (See Stanley's Sermons on the Apost. Age, page 333-4). But this is too remote and indirect an agreement, and one based upon a vague tradition. </p> <p> 5. Daraj and Rogel are both from the same root, and therefore the modern name may be derived from the ancient one, even though at present it is taken to allude to the "steps" by which the reservoir of the fountain is reached. </p> <p> 6. The Fountain of the Virgin is still the great resort of the women of [[Jerusalem]] for washing and treading their clothes. </p> <p> 7. The level of the king's gardens must 'have been above the Bir Eyub, even when the water "is at the mouth of the well, and it is generally seventy or eighty feet below; while they must have been lower than the Fountain of the Virgin, which thus might be used without difficulty to irrigate them. The last considerations, however, have little weight (see Thomson, Land and Book, 2:528). (See [[Jerusalem]]). </p>