En-Rogel

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

En-Rogel (‘spring of the fuller’). In the border of the territory of Judah (  Joshua 15:7 ) and Benjamin (  Joshua 18:16 ). It was outside Jerusalem; and David’s spies, Jonathan and Ahimaaz, were here stationed in quest of news of the revolt of Absalom (  2 Samuel 17:17 ). Here Adonijah made a feast ‘by the stone of Zohsleth,’ when he endeavoured to seize the kingdom (  1 Kings 1:9 ). The identification of this spring lies between two places, the Virgin’s Fountain and Job’s Well , both in the Kidron Valley. The strongest argument for the former site is its proximity to a cliff face called Zahweileh , in which an attempt has been made to recognize Zoheleth. This, however, is uncertain, as Zahweileh is a cliff, not an isolated stone.

R. A. S. Macalister.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

It was at this fountain that Jonathan and Ahimaaz lay hid after the flight of David ( 2 Samuel 17:17 ); and here also Adonijah held the feast when he aspired to the throne of his father ( 1 Kings 1:9 ).

The Bir Eyub, or "Joab's well," "is a singular work of ancient enterprise. The shaft sunk through the solid rock in the bed of the Kidron  Isaiah 125 feet deep...The water is pure and entirely sweet, quite different from that of Siloam; which proves that there is no connection between them." Thomson's Land and the Book.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

En-rogel ( Ĕn'Rô'Gel ), Fountain Of The Fuller. A spring near Jerusalem.  Joshua 15:7;  Joshua 18:16;  2 Samuel 17:17;  2 Samuel 17:21;  1 Kings 1:9. Some place it at the "well of Job," in the valley of Hinnom. M. Ganneau would identify it with the Fountain of the Virgin.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

En-ro'gel.' (Fount Of The Fuller). A spring which formed one of the landmarks on the boundary line between Judah,  Joshua 15:7, and Benjamin.  Joshua 18:16. It may be identified with the present, "Fountain of the Virgin," Ain Umm Ed-Daraj , the perennial source from which the pool of Siloam is supplied.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Joshua 15:7 Joshua 18:16 2 Samuel 17:17 1 Kings 1:9

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

en - rō´gel ( עין רגל , ‛ēn rōghēl  ; πηγὴ Ῥωγήλ , pēgḗ Rhōgḗl  ; meaning uncertain, but interpreted by some to mean "the spring of the fuller"):

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 rogûlo , more probable.

(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.

(2) The identification of this important landmark is of first-class importance in Jerusalem topography. Two sites have been proposed:

( a ) The older view identifies En-rogel with the spring known variously as "the Virgin's Fount," ‛Ain sitti Miriam and ‛Ain Umm el deraj , 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 Silwân , is known as es Zeḥweleh , 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 fellahı̂n of Silwân , 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, Bı̂r Eyyûb 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.

( b ) The view which places En-rogel at Bı̂r Eyyûb 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.

Although the well may itself be of considerable antiquity, there is no need to insist that this is the exact position 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 fellahı̂n of Silwân . The neighborhood, at the junction of two deep valleys - not to count the small el wâd , 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 ( Ant. , 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 Bı̂r Eyyûb 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 ( Bı̂r Eyyûb ) and then up the Valley of Hinnom ( Wady er Rabābi ) - a boundary well adapted to the natural conditions.

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.

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.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(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):

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

6. The Fountain of the Virgin is still the great resort of the women of Jerusalem for washing and treading their clothes.

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).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

En-Ro′gel. The name means Foot-fountain, and is construed by the Targum into 'Fuller's Fountain,' because the fullers trod the clothes there with their feet. It was near Jerusalem, on the boundary-line between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin . It has been usually supposed the same as the Fountain of Siloam. But Dr. Robinson is more inclined to find it in what is called by Frank Christians the Well of Nehemiah, but by the native inhabitants the Well of Job. There are only three sources, or rather receptacles of living water, now accessible at Jerusalem, and this is one of them. It is situated just below the junction of the Valley of Hinnom with that of Jehoshaphat. It is a very deep well, measuring 125 feet in depth; 50 feet of which were, at the time of Dr. Robinson's visit (in the middle of April), nearly full of water. The water is sweet, but not very cold, and at the present day is drawn up by the hand.