Jeshanah
Jeshanah is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Samaria in modern-day Israel. Known today as Burj el Isaneh. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Jeshanah appears once in the Old Testament in the account of King Abijah of Judah's war against King Jeroboam I of Israel. After a decisive battle in which Abijah's forces routed the numerically superior Israelite army, Abijah captured several towns from Jeroboam, including Jeshanah and its surrounding villages, along with Bethel and Ephron (2 Chronicles 13:19). This victory was attributed to Judah's faithfulness in maintaining proper worship of the Lord at the Jerusalem Temple, in contrast to the northern kingdom's idolatrous golden calves. Abijah's speech before the battle emphasized that Judah had not forsaken the Lord, while Israel had abandoned the Levitical priesthood and the true worship of God (2 Chronicles 13:10-12). The capture of Jeshanah, located on the border between the two kingdoms in the territory of Benjamin-Ephraim, represented a strategic gain that pushed Judah's frontier northward. The name Jeshanah, meaning 'old town,' suggests it was an established settlement with a long history even at the time of this tenth-century BCE conflict.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Jeshanah is identified with Burj el-Isaneh, a site located approximately 6 kilometers north of Bethel (modern Beitin) on the road toward Shechem. The identification is based on the preservation of the ancient name in the Arabic toponym and the site's geographical fit with the biblical context, situated in the borderland between Judah and Israel. The site features visible ruins including a medieval tower (burj), from which it derives its modern name, along with scattered ancient building stones and pottery. Systematic excavation has been limited, but surface surveys have yielded pottery from the Iron Age and later periods. The location along the central ridge route that connected Jerusalem to Shechem made it a strategically valuable position on the frontier between the two kingdoms.
Verse Appearances (1)
2Chr
Sources: ISBE Encyclopedia · OpenBible Geocoding (CC BY) · Pleiades Gazetteer View all →