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Michmash - location profile

Location and Setting

• The town of Michmash was located three miles east of Ramah, on a spur off the main east-west highway that ran eastward from Ramah toward Jericho.
• A deep gorge, the Wadi Suweinit, cut through the terrain to the south of Michmash, acting as a barrier to traffic. The only means of traversing the gorge was through a narrow corridor called "The Pass." Steep cliffs rose up on each side of the corridor. Michmash was situated on a cliff on the north side of the wadi and the town of Geba on the southern cliff.

Historical and Biblical Significance

• Michmash lay in the territory of Benjamin, although it was not significant enough to be mentioned in the list of cities assigned to Benjamin in the book of Joshua.
• As a prelude to the notable battle at Michmash, the Philistines had penetrated deep into the Hill Country of Judah. To defend against them, Saul took two thousand men and camped at Michmash, just across the valley from the Philistine garrison at Geba. Meanwhile, Saul’s son, Jonathan, took one thousand men and camped at Gibeah, five miles to the southeast on the southern edge of the Central Benjamite Plain. Jonathan and his one-thousand-man army approached from the south and successfully attacked the Philistines at Geba. Following the battle, Saul returned to Gilgal, eleven miles east of Michmash, down in the Jordan Valley. Not long after Saul vacated his post at Michmash, the Philistines amassed a large army there. Ironically, Saul and Jonathan went back up from Gilgal and set up their camp in Geba where the Philistines had previously been situated in the earlier battle. In an act of faith and bravery, Jonathan and his armor-bearer descended from Geba, crossed the valley and climbed the opposite cliff up to Michmash. They proceeded to kill twenty Philistines, sending the entire Philistine army into a panic. The Philistines fled and Israelites pursued them to Aijalon, fifteen miles to the west.
• As the Jews returned from the exile, 122 men from Michmash returned with them and resettled in Michmash (Ezra 2:27).

Bibliography

1. Aharoni, Y. and M. Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993.
2. Alden, R.L. "Michmash" The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Ed. Merrill C. Tenney. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.
3. Douglas, J.D. "Michmash, Michmas" The New Bible Dictionary. 2^nd ed. Ed. J.D. Douglas. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1982.
4. Monson, James M. Regions on the Run. Rockford: Biblical Backgrounds, Inc., 1998.