Mount Ephron
Mount Ephron is a mountain mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Al Qastal. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Mount Ephron appears in Joshua 15:9 as a geographical landmark along the northern boundary of the tribe of Judah. The boundary line is described as extending from the top of the mountain at the waters of Nephtoah to the cities of Mount Ephron, and then curving toward Baalah, which is Kiriath-jearim. The name "Ephron" likely derives from a personal name or a Hebrew root meaning "dusty" or "fawn-like." While it appears only once in this boundary description, its position between significant landmarks like the Waters of Nephtoah (possibly Lifta spring near Jerusalem) and Kiriath-jearim (where the Ark of the Covenant rested for twenty years after its return from Philistia, as described in 1 Samuel 7:1-2) places it along an important geographical corridor. This section of Judah's boundary ran through the hill country northwest of Jerusalem, an area that would become strategically significant throughout biblical history as a transitional zone between the coastal lowlands and the Judean highlands.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Mount Ephron is commonly identified with the ridge or group of hills near Al-Qastal, a village located approximately eight kilometers west of Jerusalem along the ancient road descending from the Judean highlands toward the coastal plain. This identification is based on the topographical sequence described in Joshua 15:9, which places Mount Ephron between the Waters of Nephtoah and Kiriath-jearim. The area has seen limited systematic excavation, though surveys of the region have documented Iron Age settlement remains consistent with the Judahite border zone. The terrain consists of rocky limestone hills covered with Mediterranean scrub vegetation, characteristic of the western Judean hill country.
Verse Appearances (2)
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]