Naarath
Naarath [1]
Or rather Na'arah (Heb. Nad'rah', נִעֲרָה, girl, as in NAARAH; with ה local נִעֲר תָה; Sept. εἰς Νααραθά v.r. αἱ Κῶμαι ; Vulg. Naarathe, Auth. Vers. "to Naarath"), a town on the boundary between Benjamin and Ephraim, between Ataroth and Jericho ( Joshua 16:7); elsewhere called NAARAN ( 1 Chronicles 7:28); probably the Nos-orth ( Νοοράθ) of Eusebius (Onomast. s.v.), five miles from Jericho, and, according to Reland (Palaest. page 903, 907), identical with the Areara ( Νεαρά ) of Josephus (Ant. 17:13. 1); and possibly with the Nooran ( נוערן ) of the rabbins (Vaijikra Raboat, 23). Schwarz (Palest. pages 147, 169) fixes it at "Neama," also "five miles from Jericho," meaning perhaps Nuawaimeh, the name of the lower part of the great Vady Mutyah, or el-Asas, which runs from the foot of the hill of Rummon into the Jordan valley above Jerichlo, and in a direction generally parallel to the Wadv Suweinit (Robinson, Bib. Res. 3:290). It was probably in the vicinity of one of the strong springs along the edge of the hills north of Jericho, such as Ain-Duk, Ras el-Ain, etc.; perhaps at the "high, conical mountain" called et-NVejinen (Robinson, Later Bibl. Res. page 202). (See Thibe).
