Netophah
Netophah [1]
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 .
