Manahath
Manahath is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as El Malha. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Manahath appears in 1 Chronicles 8:6, which records that certain Benjaminite clans were exiled or relocated to Manahath. The verse states that Ehud's descendants were heads of fathers' houses of the inhabitants of Geba, and they were carried into exile to Manahath. The circumstances of this internal relocation are not elaborated, though it may reflect tribal conflicts or administrative reorganizations during the early monarchic period. The name Manahath also appears as a personal name in the genealogies of Seir the Horite (Genesis 36:23; 1 Chronicles 1:40), suggesting an ancient connection between the place and Horite or Edomite peoples. Additionally, "half of the Manahathites" appears in 1 Chronicles 2:54 as a clan associated with the descendants of Judah, specifically linked to Bethlehem. The city's location in the hill country near Jerusalem placed it in a region of significant tribal interaction between Benjamin and Judah. Though Manahath receives only brief mention, it reflects the complex patterns of migration, settlement, and tribal identity that shaped Israel's early history in the promised land.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Manahath is identified with el-Malha (also written al-Maliha), a site located in the southwestern outskirts of modern Jerusalem, in the area now occupied by the Israeli neighborhood of Manhat, which preserves the ancient name. Archaeological investigations in the area have uncovered remains from multiple periods, including significant finds from the Chalcolithic period and the Iron Age. During construction in the neighborhood, excavators discovered an important Chalcolithic village site with well-preserved dwellings. Iron Age pottery consistent with the biblical period of the Judges and early monarchy has also been recovered. The site occupies a hill overlooking the Rephaim Valley, a natural corridor leading from Jerusalem toward the Shephelah. The preservation of the name from biblical Manahath through Arabic el-Malha to modern Hebrew Manhat represents a remarkable continuity of toponymy.
Verse Appearances (2)
Judg
1Chr
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]