Bible Dictionaries
Anathoth

Holman Bible Dictionary

(an' uh thawth) Personal and place name. 1. A city assigned to the tribe of Benjamin, located about three miles northeast of Jerusalem (Joshua 21:18 ). King Solomon sent Abiathar the priest there after removing him as high priest (1 Kings 2:26-27 ). It was also the home of Jeremiah the prophet, who may have been a priest in the rejected line of Abiathar (Jeremiah 1:1 ). Though Jeremiah was opposed and threatened by the citizens of Anathoth (Jeremiah 11:21-23 ) he purchased a field there from his cousin Hanameel in obedience to the word of the Lord to symbolize ultimate hope after Exile (Jeremiah 32:6-15 ). Anathoth was overrun by the Babylonians, but resettled following the Exile (Nehemiah 7:27; Nehemiah 11:32 ). 2 . The eighth of nine sons of Becher, the son of Benjamin (1 Chronicles 7:8 ). 3 . A chief that is a family or clan leader, who along with 84 other priests, Levites, and leaders signed a covenant that the Israelites would obey the law of God given through Moses (Nehemiah 10:19 ).