NAIN ; Nairn), a town (vats) mentionedonly in Luke vii. II ; the scene of one of our Lord's greatest miracles—the raising of the widow's son to life. Nothing is there said of the situation of Nain. It could not have been far distant from Capernaum, for, after spending the day in that place, it is said—' And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain.' It is somewhat remarkable that this stupendous miracle, which roused the attention of the whole country, is not referred to by any of the other evangelists ; nor is Nain mentioned in any other part of Scrip ture. Josephus speaks of a Nain, but it was different from this, having been situated in Judea (Bell. Yid. iv. 9, 5). The site of Nain is described by Jerome as being two miles south of Tabor, near Endor (Onamast., s. v. Nairn; Eusebius has twelve miles, but the error is probably that of a copyist writing instead of R. Neither this number, however, nor that of Jerome, is accurate). Phocas places it north of Tabor (see Reland, Pal., p. 904).
Nain still exists, and bears its ancient name. It stands on a bleak, rocky slope, on the northern declivity of Jebel ed-Duhy (the hill Moreh' of Scripture, and the ' Little Hermon' of modem travellers), directly facing Tabor, from which it is four miles distant, and two and a half miles south west of Endor. It is a small, poor hamlet, of
some twenty houses, or rather huts. Round the houses, however, are pretty extensive ruins ; and the writer found some traces of what appeared to be an ancient wall. The most interesting antiqui ties are tombs, hewn in the rock, a short distance east of the village. It was in this direction our Lord approached, and probably to one or other of those very tombs they were bearing the corpse, when he met and arrested the mournful procession (see Thomson, Land and the Book, p. 445 ; Hand book, p. 358 ; Stanley, S. and P., p. 349). The situation of Nain is extremely beautiful. At the foot of the slope on which it stands is the great plain of Esdraelon, bounded on the north by the graceful wooded hills of Galilee, over which the snow-capped summits of Hermon and Lebanon appear. Probably the name (Nairn, or Naim, ?T), pleasant') was suggested by the beauty of the situation. The singular stories of the Rabbins regarding this, and the blessing pronounced upon Issachar, may be seen in Lightfoot (Opera, ii. 478). That author would identify Nain with Engannim, trusting mainly to some remarks of Josephus ; but the two places were far apart (see, however, Light foot, l.c.)—J. L. P.