Migron
Migron is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Tell Maryam. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Migron appears in 1 Samuel 14:2 as the location where King Saul sat under a pomegranate tree on the outskirts of Gibeah with about six hundred men during the Philistine crisis at Michmash. This reference places Migron near Gibeah of Saul, in the southern part of the Benjamin territory. While Saul waited passively at Migron, his son Jonathan undertook his bold assault on the Philistine garrison at Michmash, demonstrating the contrast between Saul's hesitation and Jonathan's courageous faith. The detail that Saul sat at Migron with a diminished force highlights the desperate state of Israel's military situation and Saul's growing paralysis as a leader. The town's identification near Gibeah places it within the heartland of Saul's tribal territory of Benjamin, the area from which he launched his troubled reign. Migron's brief appearance in this narrative thus serves to underscore the themes of failed leadership and divine deliverance through unexpected agents that characterize the broader narrative of 1 Samuel, as God worked through Jonathan rather than the king to achieve Israel's victory.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
This Migron, associated with the 1 Samuel 14:2 reference, has been tentatively identified with Tell Maryam, a site near ancient Gibeah in the Benjamin region north of Jerusalem. The identification is based on the biblical text's placement of Migron in the outskirts of Gibeah, Saul's hometown. Some scholars have suggested that the Migron of 1 Samuel 14 may be a different location from the Migron mentioned in Isaiah 10:28, as the Isaiah passage places Migron further north near Aiath (Ai). Tell Maryam has received limited archaeological attention, and its identification with Migron remains tentative. The broader region around Gibeah (Tell el-Ful) has been excavated, revealing Iron Age fortifications consistent with the Saulide period.
Verse Appearances (1)
1Sam
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]