Netophah

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("dropping".) A town coupled with Bethlehem in  Nehemiah 7:26, also in  1 Chronicles 2:54; therefore near it. Two of David's heroes ( 1 Chronicles 27:1;  1 Chronicles 27:13;  1 Chronicles 27:15), captains of two of the 12 monthly military courses, were NETOPHATHITES ( 2 Samuel 23:28-29). "Villages of Netophathites" were Levite singers' residences ( 1 Chronicles 9:16;  Nehemiah 12:28). The Targum ( 1 Chronicles 2:54;  Ruth 4:20;  Ecclesiastes 3:11) states that they slew the guards whom Jeroboam stationed on the roads to Jerusalem, to intercept the firstfruits from the villages to the temple. The fast on the 23rd Sivan, still in the Jewish calendar, commemorates Jeroboam's opposition. Between Bethlehem and Anathoth. Noticed as "in the wilderness" of Judah in the Acta Sanctorum. Answering to the ruin Metoba. N.E. of Bethlehem on the edge of the Mar Saba desert.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Neto'phah. (Distillation). A town, the name of which, occurs only in the catalogue of those, who returned with Zerubbabel from the captivity.  Ezra 2:22;  Nehemiah 7:26  1 Esdras 5:18. But, though not directly mentioned till so late a period, Netophah was really a much older place.

Two of David's guard,  1 Chronicles 17:13;  1 Chronicles 17:15, were Netophathites. The "villages of the Neophathites," were the residence of the Levites.  1 Chronicles 9:16. From another notice, we learn that the particular Levites, who inhabited these villages, were singers.  Nehemiah 12:28. To judge from  Nehemiah 7:26, the town was in the neighborhood of, or closely connected with, Bethlehem.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

NETOPHAH. A town, the name of which first occurs in the list of the exiles who returned under Zerubbabel (  Ezra 2:22 =   Nehemiah 7:26 = 1Es 5:18 Netophas ). Perhaps the name is preserved in the modern Beit Nettif at the entrance to the Wady es-Sunt or Vale of Elah. The gentilic name the Netophathite(s) occurs in   2 Samuel 23:28 f.,   2 Kings 25:23 ,   Jeremiah 40:8 .

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

We read  Ezra 2:22 of this place; and some have thought that it was a city between Benjamin and the pleasant village of Anathoth, where Jeremiah dwelt. ( Jeremiah 1:1) The name is derived from Nataph, gum or spice; probably so called from the precious gums produced there.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A town near Bethlehem, of which little more than the name is known,  2 Samuel 24:25,25;  2 Kings 25:23;  Ezra 2:22;  Nehemiah 7:26 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 2 Samuel 23:28-29 1 Chronicles 11:30 1 Chronicles 27:13 Nehemiah 7:26

Morrish Bible Dictionary

City of Judah.  Ezra 2:22;  Nehemiah 7:26 . Identified with ruins at Umm Toba, 31 44' N, 35 13' E .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Nehemiah 7:26 1 Chronicles 2:54 1 Chronicles 27:13,15

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Netophah', נְטֹפָה , Distillation; Sept. Νετωφά in Ezra, v.r. Νεφωτά; but Ἀνετωφά in Nehemiah, v.r. Ἀτωφά; Vulg. Netopha), a town in Palestine, fifty-six of whose people returned from captivity with Zerubbabel ( Ezra 2:22;  Nehemiah 7:26). Two of David's guard, Maharai and Heleb or Hildai, leaders also of two of the monthly courses ( 1 Chronicles 27:13;  1 Chronicles 27:15), were Netophathites, and it was the native place of at least one of the captains who remained under arms near Jerusalem after its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar; for the "villages of the Netophathites" were the residence of the Levites ( 1 Chronicles 9:16), a fact which shows that they did not confine themselves to the places named in the catalogues of Joshua 21 and 1 Chronicles 6. From another notice we learn that the particular Levites who inhabited these villages were singers ( Nehemiah 12:28). That Netophah belonged to Judah appears from the fact that the two heroes above mentioned belonged, the one to the Zarhites — that is, the great family of Zerah, one of the chief houses of the tribe — and the other to Othniel, the son-in-law of Caleb. To judge from  Nehemiah 7:26, it was in the neighborhood of, or closely connected with, Bethlehem, which is also implied by  1 Chronicles 2:54, though the precise force of the latter statement cannot now be made out. From the number of Netophathites who returned from captivity, the place was probably only a small village, which indeed may account for its having escaped mention in the lists of Joshua. The Netophathites seem to have been a warlike race, if we may judge from the fact that one of the great military leaders of the Jews during the rule of the viceroy Gedaliah was Seraiah from that place ( 2 Kings 25:23;  Jeremiah 40:8). A remarkable tradition, of which there is no trace in the Bible, but which, nevertheless, is not improbably authentic, is preserved by the Jewish authors, to the effect that the Netophathites slew the guards which had been placed by Jeroboam on the roads leading to Jerusalem to stop the passage of the first-fruits from the country villages to the Temple (Targum on  1 Chronicles 2:34; on  Ruth 4:20, and  Ecclesiastes 3:11). Jeroboam's obstruction, which is said to have remained in force till the reign of Hoshea (see the notes of Beck to Targum on  1 Chronicles 2:54), was commemorated by a fast on the 23d Sivan, which is still retained in the Jewish calendar (see the calendar given by Basnage, Hist. des Juifs, volume 6, chapter 29). Netophah is not mentioned by Eusebius and Jerome, and although in the Mishna reference is made to the "oil of Netophah" (Pearh, 7:1, 12), and to the "valley of Beth-Netophah," in which artichokes flourished, whose growth determined the date of some ceremonial observance (Shebiith, 9:7), nothing is said as to the situation of the place. The latter may well be the present village of Beit Nettif, which stands on the edge of the great valley of the Wady es-Sumt (Robinson, Bib. Res. 2:16, 17; Porter, Hand-book, page 248), but can hardly be the Netophah of the Bible, since it is not near Bethlehem, but in quite another direction. It may, however, be the place mentioned (as above) by the rabbins (see Reland, Palcest. pages 650, 909). The only name in the neighborhood of Bethlehem suggestive of Netophah is that which appears in Van de Velde's map (1858) as Antubeh, and in Tobler (Dritte Wand. page 80) as Urn-Tlba, attached to a half-ruined village about two miles north-east of Bethlehem and a wady which falls therefrom into the Wady en-Nar, or Kidron. (See Netophath).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

nḗ - tō´fa ( נטפה , neṭōphāh  ; Septuagint Νετωφά , Netōphá , Νεφωτά , Nephōtá , and other variants): The birthplace of two of David's heroes, Maharai and Heleb (  2 Samuel 23:28 ,  2 Samuel 23:29 ), also of Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, one of the captains who came to offer allegiance to Gedaliah ( 2 Kings 25:23;  Jeremiah 40:8 ). "The villages of the Netophathites" are mentioned ( 1 Chronicles 9:16 ) as the dwellings of certain Levites and ( Nehemiah 12:28 , the King James Version "Netophathi") of certain "sons of the singers."

The first mention of the place itself is in  Ezra 2:22;  Nehemiah 7:26; 1 Esdras 5:18 (the Revised Version (British and American) "Netophas"), where we have parallel lists of the exiles returning from Babylon under Zerubbabel; the place is mentioned between Bethlehem and Anathoth and in literary association with other cities in the mountains of Judah, e.g. Gibeon, Kiriath-jearim, Chephereh and Beeroth. In this respect it is most plausible to identify it with Nephtoah (which see), although the disappearance of the terminal guttural in the latter creates a difficulty. Conder has suggested a site known as Khirbet Umm - Ṭoba , Northeast of Bethlehem, an ancient site, but not apparently of great importance. Beit Nettı̄f , an important village on a lofty site in the Shephelah near the "Vale of Elah," also appears to have an echo of the name, and indeed may well be the Beth Netophah of the Mishna ( Shebhū‛ōth , ix.5; Neubauer, Geogr ., 128), but the position does not seem to agree at all with that of the Old Testament Netophah. Khirbet Umm - Ṭoba see Palestine Exploration Fund , III, 128; for Beit Nettı̄f , Palestine Exploration Fund , III, 24; RBR , II, 17 f; both Sh Xvii .

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Neto´phah, a place not far from Bethlehem in Judea . Hence the Gentile name Netophite .