Mount Zemaraim
Mount Zemaraim is a mountain mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Samaria in modern-day Israel. Known today as Ras et Tahuneh. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Mount Zemaraim appears in 2 Chronicles 13:4 as the site where King Abijah of Judah delivered a powerful speech before battle against King Jeroboam of Israel. Standing on the mountain, which lay in the hill country of Ephraim, Abijah addressed the vastly superior Israelite army, declaring that the Lord had given the kingdom of Israel to David and his sons by a covenant of salt forever. He rebuked Jeroboam for his rebellion and for establishing golden calf worship at Dan and Bethel, replacing the Levitical priesthood with unauthorized priests. Abijah proclaimed that Judah's army, though outnumbered two to one, fought with God on their side because they had maintained true worship. The ensuing battle resulted in a devastating defeat for Israel, with 500,000 casualties. Mount Zemaraim thus serves as a stage for one of Scripture's clearest declarations that faithfulness to covenant worship determines the outcome of national conflict. The nearby town of Zemaraim is listed among Benjamin's cities in Joshua 18:22.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Mount Zemaraim is tentatively identified with Ras et-Tahuneh, a prominent hill in the border region between Benjamin and Ephraim, north of Jerusalem. The site sits along the ancient road from Jericho to Bethel, consistent with the boundary descriptions in Joshua 18. The nearby town of Zemaraim, listed among Benjamin's cities, may correspond to Khirbet es-Samra, though this identification also remains debated. No major excavations have been conducted specifically at the proposed location of Mount Zemaraim. The hilly terrain of the central highlands in this area is characterized by terraced agriculture and scattered archaeological remains from the Iron Age, consistent with the dense settlement patterns known from survey work in the region.
Verse Appearances (1)
2Chr
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]