Angle
Angle is a structure mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Jerusalem. It appears across 5 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
The 'Angle' (Hebrew: miqtso'a, meaning 'corner' or 'turning point') refers to a specific structural feature of the wall of Jerusalem, mentioned several times in the books of Nehemiah and 2 Kings. In Nehemiah 3:19–20, 24–25, it designates a corner or angle in Jerusalem's wall that served as a reference point during Nehemiah's rebuilding of the city's defenses after the return from Babylonian exile. The 'Angle' appears to mark a bend or turning point in the wall between the Water Gate and the Horse Gate areas. In 2 Kings 14:13, the same Hebrew term appears when Jehoash of Israel broke down the wall of Jerusalem 'from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits.' Similarly, 2 Chronicles 26:9 records that King Uzziah built towers at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and 'the Angle.' These references collectively point to a structurally significant turning point in Jerusalem's northern or northwestern wall system, a place repeatedly targeted and rebuilt across several centuries of the city's turbulent history.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The precise location of the biblical 'Angle' in Jerusalem's ancient wall system has not been definitively identified archaeologically, though several proposals have been advanced. Scholars generally place it in the northern or northwestern quadrant of the Iron Age city, in the vicinity of the Mishneh (Second Quarter) district. Kathleen Kenyon's excavations on the eastern ridge and Nahman Avigad's extensive work in the Jewish Quarter have mapped significant portions of Iron Age Jerusalem's walls, including the Broad Wall from the eighth century BCE. The toponym 'Angle' likely describes a structural corner rather than an independent place, making precise archaeological correlation difficult. The discovery of Iron Age wall segments with visible changes in direction in Avigad's excavations may correspond to the general area described.
Verse Appearances (5)
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]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]