Jericho: 6 definitions
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Jericho means something in Christianity. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. On this page you will also find search and cross-referencing tools.
In Christianity
General definition (in Christianity)
: archive.org: Easton's Bible DictionaryJericho definition and references: Place of fragrance, a fenced city in the midst of a vast grove of palm trees, in the plain of Jordan, over against the place where that river was crossed by the Israelites (Joshua 3:16). Its site was near the 鈥楢in es-Sultan, Elisha鈥檚 Fountain (2 Kings 2:19-22), about 5 miles west of Jordan. It was the most important city in the Jordan valley (Numbers 22:1; 34:15), and the strongest fortress in all the land of Canaan. It was the key to Western Palestine.
This city was taken in a very remarkable manner by the Israelites (Joshua 6). God gave it into their hands. The city was 鈥渁ccursed鈥� (Heb. herem, 鈥渄evoted鈥� to Jehovah), and accordingly (Joshua 6:17; comp. Leviticus 27:28, 29; Deuteronomy 13:16) all the inhabitants and all the spoil of the city were to be destroyed, 鈥渙nly the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron鈥� were reserved and 鈥減ut into the treasury of the house of Jehovah鈥� (Joshua 6:24; comp. Numbers 31:22, 23, 50-54). Only Rahab 鈥渁nd her father鈥檚 household, and all that she had,鈥� were preserved from destruction, according to the promise of the spies (Joshua 2:14). In one of the Amarna tablets Adoni-zedec (q.v.) writes to the king of Egypt informing him that the 鈥楢biri (Hebrews) had prevailed, and had taken the fortress of Jericho, and were plundering 鈥渁ll the king鈥檚 lands.鈥� It would seem that the Egyptian troops had before this been withdrawn from Palestine.
This city was given to the tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18:21), and it was inhabited in the time of the Judges (Judges 3:13; 2 Samuel 10:5). It is not again mentioned till the time of David (2 Samuel 10:5). 鈥淐hildren of Jericho鈥� were among the captives who returned under Zerubbabel Ezra 2:34; Nehemiah 7:36). Hiel (q.v.) the Bethelite attempted to make it once more a fortified city (1 Kings 16:34). Between the beginning and the end of his undertaking all his children were cut off.
In New Testament times Jericho stood some distance to the south-east of the ancient one, and near the opening of the valley of Achor. It was a rich and flourishing town, having a considerable trade, and celebrated for the palm trees which adorned the plain around. It was visited by our Lord on his last journey to Jerusalem. Here he gave sight to two blind men (Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52), and brought salvation to the house of Zacchaeus the publican (Luke 19:2-10).
The poor hamlet of er-Riha, the representative of modern Jericho, is situated some two miles farther to the east. It is in a ruinous condition, having been destroyed by the Turks in 1840. 鈥淭he soil of the plain,鈥� about the middle of which the ancient city stood, 鈥渋s unsurpassed in fertility; there is abundance of water for irrigation, and many of the old aqueducts are almost perfect; yet nearly the whole plain is waste and desolate...The climate of Jericho is exceedingly hot and unhealthy. This is accounted for by the depression of the plain, which is about 1,200 feet below the level of the sea.鈥�
There were three different Jerichos, on three different sites, the Jericho of Joshua, the Jericho of Herod, and the Jericho of the Crusades. Er-Riha, the modern Jericho, dates from the time of the Crusades. Dr. Bliss has found in a hollow scooped out for some purpose or other near the foot of the biggest mound above the Sultan鈥檚 Spring specimens of Amorite or pre-Israelitish pottery precisely identical with what he had discovered on the site of ancient Lachish. He also traced in this place for a short distance a mud brick wall in situ, which he supposes to be the very wall that fell before the trumpets of Joshua. The wall is not far from the foot of the great precipice of Quarantania and its numerous caverns, and the spies of Joshua could easily have fled from the city and been speedily hidden in these fastnesses.
: archive.org: Hitchcock's Bible Names DictionaryJericho refers to: 鈥渉is moon; his month; his sweet smell鈥濃�擺The definitions from this source are translations of Hebrew names found in the Bible and are included in Hitchcock's New and Complete Analysis of the Holy Bible].
: archive.org: Smith's Bible DictionaryJericho refers to:鈥�(place of fragrance), a city of high antiquity, situated in a plain traversed by the Jordan, and exactly over against where that river was crossed by the Israelites under Joshua. (Joshua 3:16) It was five miles west of the Jordan and seven miles northwest of the Dead Sea. It had a king. Its walls were so considerable that houses were built upon them. ch. (Joshua 2:15) The spoil that was found in it betokened its affluence. Jericho is first mentioned as the city to which the two spies were sent by Joshua from Shittim. (Joshua 2:1-21) It was bestowed by him upon the tribe of Benjamin, ch. (Joshua 18:21) and from this time a long interval elapses before Jericho appears again upon the scene. Its second foundation under Hiel the Bethelite is recorded in (1 Kings 16:34) Once rebuilt, Jericho rose again slowly into consequence. In its immediate vicinity the sons of the prophets sought retirement from the world; Elisha 鈥渉ealed the spring of the waters;鈥� and over against it, beyond Jordan, Elijah 鈥渨ent up by a whirlwind into heaven.鈥� (2 Kings 2:1-22) In its plains Zedekiah fell into the hands of the Chaldeans. (2 Kings 25:5; Jeremiah 39:5) In the return under Zerubbabel the 鈥渃hildren of Jericho,鈥� 345 in number, are comprised. (Ezra 2:34; Nehemiah 7:36) Under Herod the Great it again became an important place. He fortified it and built a number of new palaces, which he named after his friends. If he did not make Jericho his habitual residence, he at last retired thither to die, and it was in the amphitheater of Jericho that the news of his death was announced to the assembled soldiers and people by Salome. Soon afterward the palace was burnt and the town plundered by one Simon, slave to Herod; but Archelaus rebuilt the former sumptuously, and founded a new town on the plain, that bore his own name; and, most important of all, diverted water from a village called Neaera to irrigate the plain which he had planted with palms. Thus Jericho was once more 鈥渁 city of palms鈥� when our Lord visited it. Here he restored sight to the blind. (Matthew 20:30; Mark 10:46; Luke 18:35) Here the descendant of Rahab did not disdain the hospitality of Zaccaeus the publican. Finally, between Jerusalem and Jericho was laid the scene of his story of the good Samaritan. The city was destroyed by Vespasian. The site of ancient (the first) Jericho is placed by Dr. Robinson in the immediate neighborhood of the fountain of Elisha; and that of the second (the city of the New Testament and of Josephus) at the opening of the Wady Kelt (Cherith), half an hour from the fountain. (The village identified with jericho lies a mile and a half from the ancient site, and is called Riha . It contains probably 200 inhabitants, indolent and licentious and about 40 houses. Dr. Olin says it is the 鈥渕eanest and foulest village of Palestine;鈥� yet the soil of the plain is of unsurpassed fertility.鈥擡D.)
: archive.org: Nave's Topical BibleJericho definition and references: 鈥�1. A city east of Jerusalem and near the Jordan River Numbers 22:1; 26:3; Deuteronomy 34:1
鈥揅补濒濒别诲 The City Of Palm Trees Deuteronomy 34:3
鈥揕ocation of, pleasant 2 Kings 2:19
鈥揜ahab the harlot lived in Joshua 2; Hebrews 11:31
鈥揓oshua sees the 鈥渃aptain of the host鈥� of the Lord near Joshua 5:13-15
鈥揃esieged by Joshua for seven days; fall and destruction of Joshua 6; 24:11
鈥揝ituated within the territory allotted to Benjamin Joshua 18:12,21
鈥揟he Kenites lived at Judges 1:16
鈥揔ing of Moab makes conquest of, and establishes his capital at Judges 3:13
鈥揜ebuilt by Hiel 1 Kings 16:34
鈥揅ompany of 鈥渢he sons of the prophets,鈥� lived at 2 Kings
2:4,5,15,18
鈥揅aptives of Judah, taken by the king of Israel, released at,
on account of the denunciation of the prophet Oded 2 Chronicles 28:7-15
鈥揑nhabitants of, taken captive to Babylon, return to, with Ezra
and Nehemiah Ezra 2:34; Nehemiah 7:36
鈥揂ssist in repairing the walls of Jerusalem Nehemiah 3:2
鈥揃lind men healed at, by Jesus Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 10:46; Luke 18:35
鈥揨acchaeus lived at Luke 19:1-10
鈥�2. Plain of 2 Kings 25:5; Jeremiah 52:8
鈥�3. Waters of Joshua 16:1
鈥揚urified by Elisha 2 Kings 2:18-22
Jericho refers to:鈥擩er'icho, a town in the plain of the same name, not far from the river Jordan, at the point where it enters the Dead Sea. It lay before the Israelites when they crossed the river, on first entering the Promised Land; and the account which the spies who were sent by them into the city received from their hostess Rahab, tended much to encourage their subsequent operations, as it showed that the inhabitants of the country were greatly alarmed at their advance, and the signal miracles which had marked their course from the Nile to the Jordan. The strange manner in which Jericho itself was taken must have strengthened this impression in the country, and appears, indeed, to have been designed for that effect. The town was utterly destroyed by the Israelites, who pronounced an awful curse upon whoever should rebuild it; and all the inhabitants were put to the sword, except Rahab and her family.
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: archive.org: Fausset's Bible DictionaryJericho refers to:鈥�Numbers 22:1; Joshua 2:1-3; Joshua 2:5; Joshua 2:15; Joshua 3:16. From a root "fragrance," or "the moon" (yareach ), being the seat of Canaanite moon worship, or "broad" from its being in a plain bounded by the Jordan. Jericho is to the W., opposite where Israel crossed the Jordan under Joshua, at six miles' distance. It had its king. Walls enclosed it, and its gate was regularly shut, according to eastern custom, when it was dark. Its spoil included silver, gold, vessels of iron and brass (Joshua 6:19), cast in the same plain of Jordan where Solomon had his foundry (1 Chronicles 4:17). The "Babylonian garment" (Joshua 7:21) betokens its commerce with the East. Joshua's two spies lodged in Rahab's house upon the wall; and she in reward for their safety received her own preservation, and that of all in her house, when Joshua burned the city with fire, and slew man and beast, as all had been put under the ban. The metals were taken to the treasury of the sanctuary (Joshua 6:17-19; Joshua 6:21-25).
Other towns had their inhabitants only slain, as under the divine ban (Deuteronomy 7:2; Deuteronomy 20:16-17; Deuteronomy 2:34-35), while the cattle and booty fell to the conquerors. Jericho's men, cattle, and booty were all put under the ban, as being the first town of Canaan which the Lord had given them. They were to offer it as the firstfruits, a sign that they received the whole land as a fief from His hand. The plain was famed for palms and balsams, whence Jericho is called "the city of palms" (Deuteronomy 34:3; Judges 1:16; Judges 3:13; 2 Chronicles 28:15). The town stood, according to some, N. of the poor village Riha, by the wady Kelt. However, modern research places it a quarter of a mile from the mountain Quarantana (the traditional scene of Christ's temptation), at the fountain of Elisha. This accords with Joshua 16:1, "the water of Jericho," and Josephus mentions the fount and the mountain near (B. J., 4:8, section 2-3). Traces of buildings occur S. of the fountain. Its site was given to Benjamin (Joshua 18:21).
It is mentioned in David's time as a town (2 Samuel 10:5). Joshua's curse therefore was not aimed against rebuilding the town, which the Benjamites did, but against its miraculously overthrown walls being restored, against its being made again a fortress. See HIEL in Ahab's ungodly reign incurred the curse (1 Kings 16:34).
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See also (Relevant definitions)
Starts with: Jericho african methodist episcopal zion church, Jericho AME Church, Jericho Christian Fellowship, Jericho Church OF God In Christ, Jericho City Of Praise, Jericho Valley Church.
Full-text (+161): Hiel, Rahaab, Adummim, Abiram, Bartimaeus, Bethphage, Segub, Zacchaeus, Achor, Cherith, Gilgal, Beth-Hoglah, Ashan, Naarath, Naran, Pisgah, Senaah, Seirath, Bethpeor, En-shemesh.
Relevant text
Search found 17 books and stories containing Jericho; (plurals include: Jerichos). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Bible cyclopedia, critical and expository (by Andrew Robert Fausset)
A Cyclopedia of Biblical literature (by John Kitto)
A Dictionary of the Bible (Hastings) (by Andrew Robert Fausset)
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (by Philip Schaff)
Chapter LXV - Of the Absence of Any Antagonism Between Matthew and Mark < [The Harmony of the Gospels.]
Section 33 < [Moral Treatises of St. Augustin]
Section 34 < [Moral Treatises of St. Augustin]
The Book of the Cave of Treasures (by E. A. Wallis Budge)
Part 11 - The founding of Jericho < [The Fourth Thousand Years鈥擣om Reu to Ehud]
Part 11 - The Capture of Jerusalem < [The Fifth Thousand Years鈥擣rom Ehud to Cyrus]
Ante-nicene Fathers (by Alexander Roberts)
Chapter LXXI < [Pseudo-Clementine Literature.]
Chapter 35 < [Apocrypha of the New Testament.]
The Law of the Sabbath-Day Explained < [Part II]