Anathoth (Place), Anathothite

A town in Benjamin’s territory given to the Levites to live in (Joshua 21:18; 1 Chronicles 6:60). Anathoth may have been named by the Canaanites for their goddess Anath or later by the Israelites for one of Benjamin’s descendants (1 Chronicles 7:8).

The town was probably located at Ras el-Karrubeh near the modern town of Anata 4.8 kilometers (three miles) north of Jerusalem. Its residents were sometimes called Anethothites or Anetothites (2 Samuel 23:27; 1 Chronicles 27:12).

One of David’s military leaders, Abiezer, was from Anathoth (1 Chronicles 11:28, King James Version “Antothite”). The soldier Jehu (1 Chronicles 12:3) and the priest Abiathar (1 Kings 2:26) were also from Anothoth.

It was also the hometown of the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:1). Some of its residents violently opposed him (Jeremiah 11:21, 23). Just before Judah fell to Babylon, Jeremiah bought a field in Anathoth as a sign that Israel would be restored to her land (Jeremiah 32:7–9). Years later, 128 men of Anathoth returned from the exile. They resettled the town (Nehemiah 11:32).