ANATHOTH Sept. 'Apa0f.60), one of the towns belonging to the priests in the tribe of Benjamin, and as such a city of refuge (Josh. xxi. 18; Jer. i. r). It occurs also in 2 Sam. xxiii. 27; Ezra ii. 23 ; Neh. vii. 27 ; but is chiefly memorable * [` optabam, verbum imperfecti tem pods vim potentialem vel conditionalem, si Christus annuerit, involvens,' Bengel. Meyer prefers as the suppressed condition, `if the content of the wish could accrue to the benefit of the Israelites.' Comp. Alford in loc.] 1' Augusti (Handbuclz der Christi. Archdol. vol.
p. I) has fallen into a strange mistake in appealing to Buxtorf and Lightfoot in support of this interpretation : the former speaks very doubt fully on the subject, and the express object of the latter is to controvert it.
as the birthplace and usual residence of the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. i. 1; xi. 21-23 ; xxix. 27). Jerome, who refers to it more than once (De loc. Heir. s. v. ; in Hierem. Praefat.; Comment. in Hier. i. i) I places Anathoth three Roman miles north of Jerusalem, which correspond with the twenty stadia assigned by Josephus (Antiq. x. 7, 3). Robinson
appears to have discovered this place in the present village of Anata, at the distance of an hour and a quarter from Jerusalem. It is seated on a broad ridge of hills, and commands an extensive view of the eastern slope of the mountainous tract of Ben jamin; including also the valley of the Jordan, and the northern part of the Dead Sea. It seems to have been once a walled town and a place of strength. Portions of the wall still remain, built of large hewn stones, and apparently ancient, as are also the foundations of some of the houses. It is now a small and very poor village. From the vicinity a favourite kind of building-stone is carried to Jerusalem. Troops of donkeys are met with employed in this service, a hewn stone being slung on each side ; the larger stones are transported on camels (Robinson, Researches, ii. ro9 ; Raumer's Palastina, p. 169 ; Thomson, Land and Rook, ii. K.