Michmash

מִכְמָשׂ

Where was biblical Michmash? At Mukhmas village, across Wadi Suweinit from Jaba, about 11 km north of Jerusalem. I mark it very likely.

A huge Philistine army camped at Michmash, and Saul's men were frightened and outnumbered. Jonathan and his armor-bearer climbed the cliff on hands and feet, alone, surprised the outpost at the top, and threw the whole Philistine camp into panic.

By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker

Site today
Mukhmas village, across Wadi Suweinit from Jaba
How sure
Very likely Strong evidence, with no serious rival.
Other names
Michmas, Mikhmas, Mukhmas
Location
31.8709° N, 35.2775° E (Google Maps)
Michmash on the hand-drawn Map of Biblical Israel
Michmash on our hand-drawn Map of Biblical Israel. Get the full map as a print →

How we know where it was

The Arab village here is called Mukhmas. That is Michmash, almost unchanged.

How did two men get up to the camp at all? The Book of Samuel describes the pass Jonathan crossed. There were two rocky crags, called Bozez and Seneh, one on the north facing Michmash and one on the south facing Geba, with the pass between them. That is the steep canyon of Wadi Suweinit. Mukhmas sits on its north side. Jaba, which is Geba, sits on the south side, facing it. The two crags are right there in the rock. The text isn't being poetic. It's being literal.

Isaiah used the same ground centuries later. His invader stores his baggage at Michmash, crosses "the pass," and spends the night at Geba. It is the same canyon crossing, seen from the other side of history.

The town lived on. Benjaminites resettled it after the exile. The Mishnah still knew Michmash and rated its wheat among the finest for the meal offerings in the Temple.

Visiting today

Mukhmas is a village today. The Wadi Suweinit gorge between it and Geba can be seen from nearby roads and hiking routes.

Read it in the Bible

Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.

See Michmash on the interactive map →

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