Maon
מָעוֹן
Where was biblical Maon? At Tel Maon, beside the community of Ma'on, about 40 km south of Jerusalem. I mark it very likely.
Saul's troops were closing in on David from the other side of this hill. Capture seemed certain. Then a messenger arrived with news that the Philistines had invaded, and Saul turned back. The place was called Sela HaMachlekot, the Rock of Parting.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- Tel Maon, beside the community of Ma'on
- How sure
- Very likely Strong evidence, with no serious rival.
- Other names
- Ma'on, Khirbet Ma'in, Tel Maon, Maon of Judah
- Location
- 31.4077° N, 35.1341° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
The Arabic name of the ruin, Khirbet Ma'in, keeps the Hebrew Ma'on.
The neighbors confirm it. Carmel lies only about a kilometer and a half to the north. That is the exact pairing in the story of Nabal, who lived in Maon and kept his flocks at Carmel. Stand on the hilltop and look east. The land drops away into bare desert. That is the wilderness of Maon, where Saul hunted David from ridge to ridge.
Jews lived here long after the Bible. The Mekhilta, an early rabbinic commentary on Exodus, tells of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai going up to "Maon of Judah." Excavators on the hilltop found a synagogue from the Talmudic period with fragments of a marble menorah. A Jewish town with the right name, in the right spot, with the right neighbor.
There is no serious rival. The name, the pairing with Carmel and the desert view all point to this hill.
Visiting today
The ruins of the synagogue sit on the hilltop next to the community of Ma'on, with a wide view east over the Judean Desert.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
See Maon on the interactive map →
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Get the print + free ebookNearby places
- Carmel in Judah 2 km north
- Juttah 6 km northwest
- Eshtemoa 6 km west
- Ziph 7 km north
- Anim 9 km southwest
- Debir (Kiriath Sepher) 11 km west