Israel Judah/Hill Country

Location and Setting

• Kiriath-jearim (also called Kirjath-jearim and Kiriath-baal) was located about eight miles northwest of Jerusalem, near the boundary that separated the land allotted to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
• At the time of the Conquest, Kiriath-jearim was a member of the Gibeonite confederation, which included Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.

• As the Israelites began to conquer the Land under the leadership of Joshua, news of their invasion and destruction of Jericho and Ai traveled before them. Rather than face Israel, the Gibeonites decided to save themselves through deceit. Pretending to have come from a distant country, they convinced the Israelites to make a mutual assistance pact. Three days after the covenant was finalized, Israel discovered that the Gibeonites were local Canaanites who resided nearby and should have been destroyed as part of the Conquest of the Land. Despite the establishment of the covenant under false pretenses, Israel honored it and allowed the Gibeonites (which included the people of Kiriath-jearim) to live. They were forced to serve the Israelites, however, cutting their wood and hauling their water (Joshua 9).
• Kiriath-jearim was allotted to both the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, serving as a boundary marker (Josh 15:60; 18:14-15,28).
• When the Philistines returned the ark of the covenant to the Israelites, they brought it from Beth-shemesh to Kiriath-jearim, where Eleazar was consecrated to keep it (1 Sam 7:1). The ark remained there for twenty years, until King David transported it to Jerusalem (2 Sam 6:2; 1 Chr 13:5; 2 Chr 1:4).
• Uriah, from Kiriath-jearim, prophesied calamity for the evil King Jehoiakim. The prophet then tried to escape the king’s wrath by fleeing to Egypt. Jehoiakim sent men to find Uriah and bring him back to the king, which they did. The king promptly killed Uriah (Jer 26:20-23).

Bibliography

1. Douglas, J.D. "Kiriath-jearim" The New Bible Dictionary. 2^nd ed. Ed. J.D. Douglas. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1982.
2. Lockyer, Sr., Herbert, ed. Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986.
3. Pfeiffer, Charles F. and Howard F. Vos. The Wycliffe Historical Geography of Bible Lands. Chicago: Moody Press, 1967.
4. Rainey, A.F. "Kiriath-jearim" The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Ed. Merrill C. Tenney. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.