Ephron
Ephron is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Samaria in modern-day Israel. Known today as Al Qastal. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
A second Ephron appears in the Old Testament as a city referenced in the context of military activity near the Jordan River. This Ephron is associated with events during the Maccabean period in 1 Maccabees 5:46–52, where Judas Maccabeus and his forces, returning from a campaign in Gilead with Jewish refugees, sought to pass through the city of Ephron. The citizens of Ephron refused passage and fortified the city gates, prompting Judas to attack. After fierce fighting the city was taken and the Israelites passed through. Although this account is from the deuterocanonical literature, it preserves historical memory of a fortified city in Transjordan serving as a significant obstacle on the route back to Judea. The site's identification with Al Qastal or a nearby Transjordanian location is tentative, and it should be distinguished from the Ephron of Chronicles located in the Cisjordanian hill country.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The Ephron of the Maccabean campaign in Transjordan presents challenges of identification. The name Al Qastal has been suggested, but most scholars associate this Ephron with the ancient site of Khirbet el-Lejjun or with sites in the vicinity of modern Irbid or the Decapolis region in northern Jordan. The Transjordanian corridor through which Judas Maccabeus marched is archaeologically documented as an important route connecting the Decapolis cities with the Jordan fords. Hellenistic-period remains are well attested throughout the region, consistent with the second-century BCE date of the Maccabean campaigns. Definitive identification of this Ephron awaits more extensive survey and excavation in northern Transjordan.
Verse Appearances (1)
Josh
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]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]