Rephaim, Vale Of

REPHAIM, VALE OF

(`emeq repha'-im; koilas Rhaphaeim, koilas ton Titanon):

This was a fertile vale (Isaiah 17:5), to the Southwest of Jerusalem (Joshua 15:8; 18:16; the King James Version "Valley of the Giants"), on the border between Judah and Benjamin. Here David repeatedly defeated the invading Philistines (2 Samuel 5:18,22; 23:13; 1 Chronicles 11:15; 14:9). It is located by Josephus between Jerusalem and Bethlehem (Ant., VII, iv, i; xii, 4). It corresponds to the modern el-Biqa`, which falls away to the Southwest from the lip of the valley of Hinnom. The name in ancient times may perhaps have covered a larger area, including practically all the land between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, where the head-waters of Nahr Ruben are collected.

W. Ewing