Beth-gamul
Beth-gamul is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Transjordan in modern-day Israel. Known today as Jumaiyil. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Beth-gamul appears in Jeremiah 48:23 as one of the cities of Moab condemned in the prophet's lengthy oracle against that nation. The verse lists Beth-gamul alongside Beth-diblathaim and Beth-meon as towns destined for divine judgment, their fate sealed by Moab's pride and its hostility toward Israel. The name Beth-gamul may mean "house of the camel" or "house of recompense," and its location in the Transjordanian plateau east of the Dead Sea places it in the heartland of ancient Moabite civilization. The Moabite plateau was a fertile tableland capable of supporting significant agriculture and herding, making place names referencing camels fitting for a pastoral culture. The theological import of Jeremiah 48 is that no earthly prosperity or military strength can insulate a nation from divine judgment when it persists in pride and opposition to God's purposes. Beth-gamul, as one of the well-established Moabite towns, represents the settled prosperity that Jeremiah declares will be overturned. The oracle envisions a systematic depopulation and devastation of Moabite territory that ultimately came through successive waves of Babylonian conquest in the late seventh and early sixth centuries BC.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Beth-gamul is generally identified with Khirbet Jumaiyil, a site located on the Moabite plateau in modern Jordan, east of the Dead Sea. The identification is based on the survival of a similar toponym in the Arabic name and on the site's geographical position relative to other Moabite towns mentioned in Jeremiah 48. Nelson Glueck's surveys of Transjordan in the mid-twentieth century documented Iron Age remains at numerous sites across the Moabite plateau, consistent with the dense settlement described in Jeremiah's oracles. Systematic excavation of Beth-gamul itself has not been undertaken, but the regional survey data supports the presence of significant Iron Age II occupation in the area identified with this city.
Verse Appearances (1)
Jer
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]