RAMATH-LEHI:

By: Emil G. Hirsch, Immanuel Benzinger

Place on the frontier between Judah and Philistia; mentioned only in the story of Samson (Judges xv. 9, 14, 17). The name, (= "Jaw-Bone Height"), is explained by the tradition that Samson slew there 1,000 Philistines with the jaw-bone of an ass and then cast the bone away. More probably the hill was so called because of its peculiar form. The name of the spring 'En ha-Ḳore (= "Partridge Spring"), which flows past the hill, is explained by legend to mean the "Spring of the Caller" ("Ḳore") because it was in answer to Samson's prayer that Yhwh cleft the jawbone, sending forth a well of water. The scene of the Samson stories was laid in the vicinity of Timnath and Zareah, in the present Wadi al-Ṣarar. It is also stated that Ramath-lehi lay near the chasm of Etam. Since the place is called Σιαγών in the Septuagint, it has been identified with the site of Khirbat al-Ṣiyar, south of Wadi al-Ṣarar ("Z. D. P. V." x. 152 et seq.).

E. G. H. I. Be.