MIGDAL-EL tower of God ;' ME yaXaapitc ; 31a-yaaNai ; Magdale1), one of the fenced cities' of Naphtali, mentioned only in Josh. xix. 38. No indication of its geographical position is given, and the name Migdal was, and still is, very common in Palestine. The territory of Naphtali unquestionably included a considerable portion of the shore of the Sea of Galilee ; and there is on the shore, three miles north of Tiberias, a small village with ancient ruins called AfgVel, the Arabic representative of Migdal and now identified with the MAGDALA of the N. T. Dr. Robinson states that this is probably the same place as the Migdal-el of the O. T. (B. ii. 397). It would seem, however, that Joshua groups the cities according to their position ; and if so, Migdal-el would have come between Hammath and Chinnereth, whereas it is named after Kedesh and Hazor, and thus appears to have been situated on the north, or probably north-west, part of the tribe (Josh. xix. 35-38). Eusebius and Jerome
make a strange mistake regarding it ; they say it is now a small village nine (Jerome five) miles from Dora on the road to Ptolemais,' which nearly cor responds to the position of Athlit, the Castellum Peregrinorzun of the Crusaders (Onomast., s. v. Magdihel ; Handbook, p. 369) ; but this is far beyond the boundaries of Naphtali. In Van de Velde's map a village called Aleja'el Selim is placed near the northern extremity of the mountains of Naphtali, the position of which would seem to agree with that of Migdal-el. The Mujeidel men tioned by Mr. Grove, on the bank of Wady Ker kemh, appears to be too far west (Smith's Diet. of the Bible, s. v.) This point, however, requires fuller investigation on the spot.—J. L. P.