Achor/ˈeɪkər/ (Hebrew:עכור "muddy, turbid: gloomy, dejected"[1]) is the name of avalley in the vicinity ofJericho.
TheBook of Joshua,chapter seven, relates the story from which the valley's name comes. After the problems theIsraelites had as a result ofAchan's immoral theft of items commanded to be destroyed, the Israelite community stoned Achan and his household. The narrative about Achan isetiological, presenting afolk etymology.[2]
Due to the nature of this narrative, the phrasevalley of trouble became eminently proverbial and occurs elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible. TheBook of Isaiah andBook of Hosea use the term –the valley of trouble, a place for herds to lie down in,[3]the valley of trouble for a door of hope,[4] as a way of describing the redemption promised by God.
Eusebius (inOnomasticon) andJerome (inBook of Sites and Names of Hebrew Places) implied that they thought it was a valley north of Jericho. In the nineteenth century some writers identified the valley with thewadi al-Qelt, a deep ravine located to Jericho's south.[5] In the twentieth century theHyrcania valley (El-Buqei'a in Arabic) west and south ofQumran, andWadi en-Nu'eima[6] have also been suggested.[7] One difficulty is that the narrative of Joshua[8] appears to place the valley of Achor to the north of Jericho, between Jericho andAi; but Joshua[9] makes the valley part of the boundary between thetribe of Judah and thetribe of Benjamin, to the south of Jericho, but not as far south as El-Buqei'a.[10]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "Achor".Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Moses Beer (1901–1906)."Achor". InSinger, Isidore; et al. (eds.).The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.Authority control databases: National |
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31°50′13″N35°23′59″E / 31.83686°N 35.399773°E /31.83686; 35.399773