zemaraim Summary and Overview

(1.) A town of Benjamin (Josh. 18:22); now the ruin, rather two ruins, es-Sumrah, 4 miles north of Jericho. (2.) A mount in the highlands of Ephraim, to the north of Jerusalem (2 Chr. 13:4-20). Here the armies of Abijah and Jeroboam engaged in a bloody battle, which issued in the total defeat of the king of Israel, who never "recovered strength again," and soon after died.

(double fleece of wool), a town in the allotment of Benjamin, #Jos 18:22| perhaps identical with Mount Zemaraim, mentioned in #2Ch 13:4| only, which was "in Mount Ephraim," that is to say, within the general district of the highlands of that great tribe. #2Ch 13:4|

ZEMARA'IM (double mount?), a name of two places. 1. A town in Benjamin. Josh 18:22. It has long been identified with Sunna, in the Jordan valley, 4 miles north of Jericho. The name is in the plural, and two ruins bearing the name of Sunna have been found close together. 2. Mount Zemaraim, in the highlands of Ephraim, 2 Chr 13:4; possibly the name survives in the modern Tal'at esSumra.

A town of Benjamin's allotment (Joshua 18:22); the name appears now in Khirbet el Szomra (Seetzen), four miles N. of Jericho, or es Sumrah (Robinson). Also a MOUNT on which the prophet Abijah stood in addressing Jeroboam (2 Chronicles 13:4); in the hilly part of Ephraim, extending into Benjamin's territory. Both town and mount are memorials of the former presence of the Zemarites.