Bible Dictionary

The two heights of the Zophites or of the watchers (only in 1 Sam. 1:1), "in the land of Zuph" (9:5). Ramathaim is another name for Ramah (4). One of the Levitical families descended from Kohath, that of Zuph or Zophai (1 Chr. 6:26, 35), had a district assigned to them in Ephraim, which from this circumstance was called "the land of Zuph," and hence the name of the town, "Zophim." It was the birth-place of Samuel and the seat of his authority (1 Sam. 2:11; 7:17). It is frequently mentioned in the history of that prophet and of David (15:34; 16:13; 19:18-23). Here Samuel died and was buried (25:1). This town has been identified with the modern Neby Samwil ("the prophet Samuel"), about 4 or 5 miles north-west of Jerusalem. But there is no certainty as to its precise locality. Some have supposed that it may be identical with Arimathea of the New Testament. (See [519]MIZPAH).

Favour, grace, one of the wives of Elkanah the Levite, and the mother of Samuel (1 Sam. 1; 2). Her home was at Ramathaim-zophim, whence she was wont every year to go to Shiloh, where the tabernacle had been pitched by Joshua, to attend the offering of sacrifices there according to the law (Ex. 23:15; 34:18; Deut. 16:16), probably at the feast of the Passover (comp. Ex. 13:10). On occasion of one of these "yearly" visits, being grieved by reason of Peninnah's conduct toward her, she went forth alone, and kneeling before the Lord at the sanctuary she prayed inaudibly. Eli the high priest, who sat at the entrance to the holy place, observed her, and misunderstanding her character he harshly condemned her conduct (1 Sam. 1:14-16). After hearing her explanation he retracted his injurious charge and said to her, "Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition." Perhaps the story of the wife of Manoah was not unknown to her. Thereafter Elkanah and his family retired to their quiet home, and there, before another Passover, Hannah gave birth to a son, whom, in grateful memory of the Lord's goodness, she called Samuel, i.e., "heard of God." After the child was weaned (probably in his third year) she brought him to Shiloh into the house of the Lord, and said to Eli the aged priest, "Oh my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: therefore I also have granted him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he is granted to the Lord" (1 Sam. 1:27, 28, R.V.). Her gladness of heart then found vent in that remarkable prophetic song (2:1-10; comp. Luke 1:46-55) which contains the first designation of the Messiah under that name (1 Sam. 2:10, "Annointed" = "Messiah"). And so Samuel and his parents parted. He was left at Shiloh to minister "before the Lord." And each year, when they came up to Shiloh, Hannah brought to her absent child "a little coat" (Heb. meil, a term used to denote the "robe" of the ephod worn by the high priest, Ex. 28:31), a priestly robe, a long upper tunic (1 Chr. 15:27), in which to minister in the tabernacle (1 Sam. 2:19; 15:27; Job 2:12). "And the child Samuel grew before the Lord." After Samuel, Hannah had three sons and two daughters.

(Matt. 2:18), the Greek form of Ramah. (1.) A city first mentioned in Josh. 18:25, near Gibeah of Benjamin. It was fortified by Baasha, king of Israel (1 Kings 15:17-22; 2 Chr. 16:1-6). Asa, king of Judah, employed Benhadad the Syrian king to drive Baasha from this city (1 Kings 15:18, 20). Isaiah (10:29) refers to it, and also Jeremiah, who was once a prisoner there among the other captives of Jerusalem when it was taken by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 39:8-12; 40:1). Rachel, whose tomb lies close to Bethlehem, is represented as weeping in Ramah (Jer. 31:15) for her slaughtered children. This prophecy is illustrated and fulfilled in the re-awakening of Rachel's grief at the slaughter of the infants in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:18). It is identified with the modern village of er-Ram, between Gibeon and Beeroth, about 5 miles due north of Jerusalem. (See [518]SAMUEL.) (2.) A town identified with Rameh, on the border of Asher, about 13 miles south-east of Tyre, "on a solitary hill in the midst of a basin of green fields" (Josh. 19:29). (3.) One of the "fenced cities" of Naphtali (Josh. 19:36), on a mountain slope, about seven and a half miles west-south-west of Safed, and 15 miles west of the north end of the Sea of Galilee, the present large and well-built village of Rameh. (4.) The same as Ramathaim-zophim (q.v.), a town of Mount Ephraim (1 Sam. 1:1, 19). (5.) The same as Ramoth-gilead (q.v.), 2 Kings 8:29; 2 Chr. 22:6.