Mahanaim
Mahanaim is a settlement mentioned in 16 verses. Its most likely location is Tell edh Dhahab el Gharbi. The name means “tents; two fields; two armies.”
Where is Mahanaim?
Approx. 32.1857, 35.6867 · OpenStreetMap · Google Maps
Possible modern locations
| Identification | Type | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Tell edh Dhahab el Gharbi | settlement | High |
| Tell Hejaj | settlement | Medium |
| Tell edh Dhahab esh Sherqiyeh | settlement | Low |
| Tell er Reheil | settlement | Low |
| Sleikhat | settlement | Low |
| Khirbet Mehna | settlement | Low |
Mahanaim in the Bible dictionary
Two camps, a place near the Jabbok, beyond Jordan, where Jacob was met by the “angels of God,” and where he divided his retinue into “two hosts” on his return from Padan-aram (Gen. 32:2). This name was afterwards given to the town which was built at that place. It was the southern boundary of Bashan (Josh. 13:26, 30), and became a city of the Levites (21:38). Here Saul’s son Ishbosheth reigned (2 Sam. 2:8, 12), while David reigned at Hebron. Here also, after a troubled reign, Ishbosheth was murdered by two of his own bodyguard (2 Sam. 4:5-7), who brought his head to David at Hebron, but were, instead of being rewarded, put to death by him for their cold-blooded murder. Many years after this, when he fled from Jerusalem on the rebellion of his son Absalom, David made Mahanaim, where Barzillai entertained him, his headquarters, and here he mustered his forces which were led against the army that had gathered around Absalom. It was while sitting at the gate of this town that tidings of the great and decisive battle between the two hosts and of the death of his son Absalom reached him, when he gave way to the most violent grief (2 Sam. 17:24-27).
The only other reference to Mahanaim is as a station of one of Solomon’s purveyors (1 Kings 4:14). It has been identified with the modern Mukhumah, a ruin found in a depressed plain called el-Bukie’a, “the little vale,” near Penuel, south of the Jabbok, and north-east of es-Salt.
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), public domain. Full dictionary entry →
Verses that mention Mahanaim
- Genesis 32:2
And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
- Joshua 13:26
And from Heshbon unto Ramath–mizpeh, and Betonim; and from Mahanaim unto the border of Debir;
- Joshua 13:30
And their coast was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, threescore cities:
- Joshua 21:38
And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Mahanaim with her suburbs,
- 2 Samuel 2:8
But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul’s host, took Ish–bosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;
- 2 Samuel 2:10
Ish–bosheth Saul’s son was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David.
- 2 Samuel 2:12
And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ish–bosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
- 2 Samuel 2:29
And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plain, and passed over Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim.
- 2 Samuel 17:24
Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.
- 2 Samuel 17:27
And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lo–debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,