Jaar
Jaar is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Deir el Azar. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Jaar appears in Psalm 132:6, a psalm celebrating David's determination to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem: "We heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar." This poetic reference points to the period when the Ark resided at Kiriath-jearim (literally "city of forests"), where it had been kept for approximately twenty years after the Philistines returned it following the disasters it caused in their cities (1 Samuel 6-7). Jaar is understood as an abbreviated or poetic form of Kiriath-jearim, with "jaar" meaning "forest" or "wood" in Hebrew. The Ark's long sojourn at Kiriath-jearim represents a period of spiritual neglect in Israel, as the sacred object central to Israel's covenant worship was left in a private household under the care of Eleazar, son of Abinadab (1 Samuel 7:1-2). David's recovery of the Ark from this location, described in 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 13, was a watershed moment in Israel's worship, restoring the central symbol of God's presence to prominence in the nation's life and prefiguring the eventual construction of Solomon's temple.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Jaar, as a poetic reference to Kiriath-jearim, is identified with the site of Deir el-Azar (also known as Tell el-Azar), located on a prominent hilltop approximately 13 kilometers west of Jerusalem near the modern village of Abu Ghosh. Significant excavations conducted by Israel Finkelstein and Christophe Nicolle beginning in 2017 uncovered a massive platform dating to the Iron Age, possibly an elevated cultic site. The excavations revealed that the hilltop was artificially raised and supported by large retaining walls, suggesting the site held considerable religious significance. Earlier surface surveys identified pottery from the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. The Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant, built by French Crusaders, sits atop the hill, reflecting the enduring tradition connecting this site to the Ark's resting place.
Verse Appearances (1)
Ps
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]