City of Palms in Book of Judges
The "city of palms" mentioned in the Book of Judges refers to Jericho [1]. This designation appears in Judges 1:16 and 3:13, as well as in Deuteronomy 34:3 [1, 3]. Jericho was known as the city of palm trees due to the abundance of these trees in the area [7]. Josephus, the Jewish historian, noted that the plain around Jericho was planted with palm trees and was a source of balsam [7]. Other ancient writers, such as Pliny and Diodorus Siculus, also attested to Jericho's association with palm trees [7].
In Judges 1:16, the Kenites, descendants of Moses' father-in-law, are described as going up "out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah" [6]. This passage indicates that the Kenites, who had accepted Moses' invitation to accompany the Israelites to Canaan, migrated from this region [6]. While Jericho itself had been destroyed, the phrase "city of palm trees" likely referred to the surrounding district [6, 8]. Some scholars suggest this could have been the area of En-gedi, which was historically known as Hazezon-tamar, also meaning "palm-grove" [6].
Another city associated with palms, though distinct from the "city of palms" in Judges, is Tadmor, also known as Palmyra [2, 5]. This city, located in the Syrian wilderness between the Euphrates and Hamath, was built by Solomon [2, 5]. It was a significant center for caravan traffic due to its strategic location [2]. In 1 Kings 9:18, the Hebrew text and Revised Version refer to this city as "Tamar," which means "palm tree" [5, 10]. This "Tamar" is distinct from the "city of palms" (Jericho) in Judges and is described as being on the southern border of Palestine [5].
The presence of palm trees is also noted in Judges 4:5, where Deborah, a prophetess and judge, is described as dwelling "under the palm-tree of Deborah" between Ramah and Beth-El in the hill country of Ephraim [4, 9]. This palm tree became a place where the Israelites would come to her for judgment [4, 9].
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Palm trees, The city of — The name given to Jericho (q.v.), Deut. 34:3; Judg. 1:16; 3:13.”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Tadmor — (city of palms), called "Tadmor in the wilderness," is the same as the city known to the Greeks and Romans under the name of Palmyra. It lay between the Euphrates and Hamath, to the southeast of that city, in a fertile tract or oasis of the desert. Being situated at a convenient distance from both the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf, it had great advantages for caravan traffic. It was built by Solomon after his conquest of Hamath-zobah. (1 Kings 9:18; 2 Chronicles 8:4) As the city is-nowhere else mentioned in the Bible, it would be out of place to ente”
- Judges “Judges 3:13 (YLT) — and he gathereth unto him the Bene-Ammon and Amalek, and goeth and smiteth Israel, and they possess the city of palms;”
- Judges “Judges 4:5 (YLT) — and she is dwelling under the palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Beth-El, in the hill-country of Ephraim, and the sons of Israel go up unto her for judgment.”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Tadmor — Palm, a city built by Solomon "in the wilderness" (2 Chr. 8:4). In 1 Kings 9:18, where the word occurs in the Authorized Version, the Hebrew text and the Revised Version read "Tamar," which is properly a city on the southern border of Palestine and toward the wilderness (comp. Ezek. 47:19; 48:28). In 2 Chr. 8:14 Tadmor is mentioned in connection with Hamath-zobah. It is called Palmyra by the Greeks and Romans. It stood in the great Syrian wilderness, 176 miles from Damascus and 130 from the Mediterranean and was the centre of a vast commercial traffic with W”
- Judges (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Judges 1:16: the children of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah--called "the Kenite," as probably descended from the people of that name (Num 24:21-22). If he might not himself, his posterity did accept the invitation of Moses (Num 10:32) to accompany the Israelites to Canaan. Their first encampment was in the "city of palm trees"--not Jericho, of course, which was utterly destroyed, but the surrounding district, perhaps En-gedi, in early times called Hazezon-tamar (Gen 14:7), from the palm-grove which”
- Deuteronomy (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Deuteronomy 34:3: And the south,.... The southern part of the land, even all of it; and having shown him that, he is directed eastward to take a view of the plain of the valley of Jericho; which lay before him, a delightful plain; see Jos 5:10, the city of palm trees; so Jericho was called, because of the multitude of palm trees which grew there, and which Josephus not only testifies (r), who speaks of it as a plain planted with palm trees, and from whence balsam comes; but several Heathen writers: Pliny says (s) Jericho was set with palm trees; Diodorus Siculus (t) speaks of ”
- Judges (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 1:16: The notice respecting the Kenites, that they went up out of the palm-city with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah in the south of Arad, and dwelt there with the Judaeans, is introduced here into the account of the wars of the tribe of Judah, because this migration of the Kenites belonged to the time between the conquest of Debir (Jdg 1:12.) and Zephath (Jdg 1:17); and the notice itself was of importance, as forming the intermediate link between Num 10:29., and the later allusions to the Kenites in Jdg 4:11; Jdg 5:24; Sa1 15:6; Sa1 27:10; Sa1 30:”
- Judges (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Judges 4:5: And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah,.... Her dwelling house was under a palm tree, or rather she sat under one, in the open air, when the people came to her with their cases, and it was called from hence after her name; though some, as Abarbinel observes, think it was so called, because Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, was buried here, and which was near Bethel, one of the places next mentioned, see Gen 35:8, between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim; which places were in the tribe of Benjamin in the borders of Ephraim, see Jos 16:2. The Jews conclude, from th”
- 1 Kings (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Kings 9:17: And Baalath,.... A city in the tribe of Dan, Jos 19:44. and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land; or "Tamar", as in the Cetib, or Scriptural reading; for we go according to the marginal reading, and so Thamato in Ptolemy (p); and is thought by some to be the same with Tamar in Eze 47:19, which Jerom there says is Palmyra. Tamar signifies a palm tree, from whence this city had its name Palmyra, the situation of which place agrees with this; hence we read both in Ptolemy (q) and Pliny (r) of the Palmyrene deserts: the ruins of it are to be seen to this day, and of i”