Nephtoah
מֵי נֶפְתּוֹחַ · “Neftoach” on the map
Where was biblical Nephtoah? At the spring of Lifta, at the entrance to Jerusalem. I mark it probable.
Joshua ran the border between Judah and Benjamin through this spring, on its way from Jerusalem west to Kiryat Yearim.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- The spring of Lifta, at the entrance to Jerusalem
- How sure
- Probable The best case we have, with real alternatives.
- Other names
- Waters of Nephtoah, Mei Neftoach, Me-Nephtoah, Lifta, Ein Lifta
- Location
- 31.7964° N, 35.1959° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
Mei Neftoach is a landmark, not a story. The Book of Joshua names "the spring of the waters of Neftoach" twice, once in Judah's border and once in Benjamin's. Both times it sits between the valley below Jerusalem and Kiryat Yearim. So the spring has to lie on the line running northwest from the city toward Abu Ghosh.
Lifta's spring sits exactly on that line, and it never runs dry. Many scholars hear Neftoach in the Arabic name Lifta, bent out of shape over the centuries. Pottery from the Middle Bronze and Iron Ages and a burial cave have turned up around the spring, so people were living here in the right periods.
This border is also why Jerusalem itself ended up between the tribes. The line ran along the valley right below the city.
The match is likely, not certain. Medieval Jewish tradition, in the commentary of Radak, placed Mei Neftoach at Ein Eitam, the high spring south of Bethlehem that fed the Temple. But Ein Eitam lies well south of the border Joshua describes. The geography favors Lifta.
Visiting today
The spring pools and the abandoned stone houses of Lifta are a short walk down from the entrance to Jerusalem, and a favorite stop for hikers.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
See Neftoach on the interactive map →
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- Mozah (Motza) 3 km west
- Nob 4 km northeast
- Jerusalem 4 km southeast
- Gibeah of Saul 4 km northeast
- Gibeon 6 km north
- Anathoth 6 km east