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Bible Dictionaries
Esdraelon
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or ESDRAELON . The Greek name for Merj Ibn ‘Amr , the great plain north of the range of Carmel. It is triangular in shape, the angles being defined by Tell el-Kassis in the N.W., Jenin in the S.E., and Tabor in the N.E. The dimensions of the area are about 20 miles N.W. to S.E., 14 miles N.E. to S.W. It affords a passage into the mountainous interior of Palestine, from the sea-coast at the harbours of the Bay of ‘Acca. It is drained by the Kishon, and is, over nearly all its area, remarkably fertile. It was allotted to the tribe of Issachar.
Esdraelon has been the great battlefield of Palestine. Here Deborah and Barak routed the hosts of Jabin and Sisera (Judges 4:1-24 ), and here Gideon defeated the Midianites (7). Saul here fought his last battle with the Philistines ( 1Sa 28:1-25; 1 Samuel 29:1-11; 1 Samuel 30:1-31; 1 Samuel 31:1-13 ). Josiah here attacked Pharaoh-necho on his way to Mesopotamia and was slain ( 2 Kings 23:30 ). It is the scene of the encampment of Holofernes ( Jdt 7:3 ), in connexion with which appears the name by which the valley is generally known: it is a Greek corruption of Jazreel . Here Saladin encamped in 1186; and, finally, here Napoleon encountered and defeated an army of Arabs in 1799. It is chosen by the Apocalyptic writer ( Revelation 16:14-16 ) as the fitting scene for the final battle between the good and evil forces of the world.
R. A. S. Macalister.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Esdraelon'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/e/esdraelon.html. 1909.
