REPHAIM, VALLEY OF, also VALLEY OF THE GIANTS (nn-r-pn3) ; ecocNact -rn'y To-dyne; icoAdoL `Pacbaty, and yoyciyrwy; also yips 'Pa Ode, and 'P. in Josh. ; also in Is. xvii. 5, iv cpcipa-ryt ; vallis Raphaim, and gigantum). The origin and meaning of the word Rephaim have not been satisfactorily determined. It is a fact that most of, if not all, the proper names in primeval times were descriptive. If Rephaim be so understood then it may be derived from an obsolete root equivalent to the Arabic to be high ;' and n4t4t1 will signify, as commonly rendered, 'giants' (see Kalisch on Gen. xiv. 5 ; Gcsen., Thes., p. 13oz). Ewald gives another etymology. He takes the root NV1 as equivalent to ilD1, which he renders 'stretched' (gestreckt), and then he thinks it may also signify ' great,' and giants,' like the German Recke (Geschichle, i. p. 327, zd ed.) Others suppose the name to be a patronymic, derived from a common ancestor Rapha, as may perhaps be indicated by 2 Sam. xxi. 16, and i Chron. xx. 4.
The Rephaim were an aboriginal nation which dwelt in Palestine in primeval ages, and left their traces in the names, history, and traditions of vari ous sections of the country both cast and west of the Jordan. Their gigantic stature and military prowess made them formidable and celebrated even at a time when the race was almost extinct [GIANTS]. They had settlements in Basilan at a very remote period ; and that country was called the land of the Rephaim' (A. V. 'giants') at and even after the conquest (Gen. xiv. 5 ; Deut. iii. 11-13 ; Josh. xiii. 12). The country occupied by the Ammonites also was called the land of the Rephaim' (Deut. ii. I I, zo); and a section of Western Palestine adjoining the mountains of Ephraim (probably the plain of Esdraelon) re ceived the same name (Josh. xvii. 15). But the name Replzaim clung much longer to a valley' or plain' (pny) situated between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
The valley of Rephaim was a noted place, and was the scene of a few stirring incidents in Jewish history. It is first mentioned in the description given by Joshua of the northern border of Judah. The passage is important :—`The border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite : the same is Jerusalem ; and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward' (xv. 8). The last clause in the Hebrew is not quite clear (nntv n•tn-rpnv nvpz). It may mean that the boundary-line was north of the valley, or that the valley was north of the bound ary. The latter construction is possible ; but the former is unquestionably the more natural, and is supported by the Septuagint and the Vulgate, and also by most commentators. If this interpretation be admitted, the situation of the valley is certain : it lay on the south of the hill which enclosed Hin nom on the west. This view is farther strengthened by the notice in Josh. xviii. 16.
When David was hiding from Saul in the cave of Adullam, we are told that the Philistines, no doubt taking advantage of intestine troubles, in vaded the mountain fastnesses of Israel. A band of them pitched in the valley of Rephaim, and at the same time seized and garrisoned Bethlehem, David's native-place (2 Sam. xxiii. 13, 14). It was
then that three of his warriors, to gratify a wish of their chief, broke through the enemies' lines and drew water from the well by the gate of Bethlehem. The narrative shows clearly that the valley of Rephaim could not have been far distant from Bethlehem (t Chron. xi. 15-19). On two other occasions, soon after David was proclaimed king, the Philistines invaded the mountains and drew up their armies on the same plain ; they were at once attacked by David's veterans and routed with great slaughter (2 Sam. v. IS, 22 ; 1 Chron. xiv. 9-13). But from neither of these notices do we learn any thing of the position of the valley ; and there is only one other mention of it in the Bible (Is. xvii. 5). Josephus in one place (Antiq. vii. 4. I) says that the valley of the giants was near Jerusalem ; and in another place (vii. 12. 4), when narrating the story of the drawing of water from the well at Bethlehem, in which he makes a strange blunder, he says the valley extended from Jerusalem to the city of Bethlehem.' Eusebius and Jerome, on the other hand, place it on the north of Jerusalem (Ozzomast., s. v. Raphainz), and in the territory of Benjamin (Id., s. v. Emec Raphaim). Their notices, how ever, are brief and unsatisfactory (see Onomast., s. v. Codas Titanorum, and the excellent note by Bonfrerius).
On the west side of the valley of Hinnom rises a bare rocky ridge, beyond which commences an upland plain, considerably lower than the ridge, but almost on a level with the city. It extends southward towards Bethlehem more than a mile. Declining gradually on the south-west, it contracts at length into a narrow and deep valley called Wady el-Werd. The plain is flat and fertile, but is shut in on all sides by rocky hill-tops and ridges. This appears to be the valley of Rephaim ; and its position certainly agrees well with all the notices in the Bible and in Josephus (Robinson, Bib. Res., i. 219 ; Handbk., p. 75 ; Bonar, Land of Promise, p. r2r). It has been objected that this is a plain, and not a valley ; and it is said the Hebrew word pt..11/ signifies a low-lying enclosed valley (Grove in Smith's Dia% of Bible, iii. 1030). It is true that Emek could not be applied to an open plain ; it means a plain or valley shut in, and lower than the ground around it. But these are just the features of this little plain. The writer has viewed it from all sides, and he was struck with the correctness of the term. Dr. Bonar has well said When passing through it, and looking at its wide extent, with its scarcely perceptible south-west slope, you naturally call it a plain, as we found ourselves gene rally doing ; but marking the low hills which hem it in on all sides, you see that it is really a valley, and understand the accuracy of the Scripture name, which is ahl ays valley, not 'lain ; an emek, a wide depression between hills, such as the vale of Hebron' and the valley of Aja]on" (Land of Promise, p. 177). The attempt of Tobler and others to transfer the valley of Rephaim to the north or north-west side of Jerusalem appears to be at variance with the words of the sacred writer as shown above (see, however, Toblcr, Dritte iVanderung, p. 202 ; Furst, Hana'wb., ii. 383).— J. L. P.