Jezreel

JEZ'REEL, VALLEY OF, a triangular plain of central Palestine, called by Josephus "the great plain," extending from the Mediterranean to the Jordan, and from the range of Carmel and Samaria to the mountains in Galilee. It is about 25 miles long from east to west, and 12 miles wide from north to south. It is a classic battle-field. There Barak and Gideon triumphed, Deborah sung her war-song; Saul and Jonathan fell near by, on the mountains of Gilboa; here King Josiah was mortally wounded by the Egyptians. It furnished the apostle with a mystic name for the final battle-field of the Almighty, Rev 16:14-16, and here Napoleon gained a fruitless victory over a Turkish army of 30,000. On the west side is a narrow pass, opening into the plain of 'Akka. From the base of this triangular plain three branches stretch out eastward, divided by two bleak gray ridges, one called Mount Gilboa, the other Little Hermon, The central branch is the richest as well as the most celebrated. It is the "Valley of Jezreel" proper — the battle-field where Gideon triumphed and Saul and Jonathan were overthrown. Jud 7:1, 'sq.; 1 Sam 29 and 1 Sam 31. The plain is noted for its wonderful richness. The modern Greek name of the plain Esdraelon is not found in the O.T. or N.T., but occurs in the Apocrypha. It is now uninhabited, and only a small portion is cultivated. "Next to the plain of Sharon," says Schaff, "it is the most fertile district of Palestine, looking in spring like a green velvet carpet, . . . sadly neglected, and exposed to the ravages of the wild Bedouin, who from time to time make raids and pitch their black tents, kill peasants, plunder crops, and then ride back with their booty on camels and horses to their lairs in the Hauran." Dr. N. Macleod writes concerning the plain of Jezreel: "On or near the spot where Ahab's palace is likely to have stood is an ancient tower, built I know not when nor by whom. We ascended to its upper story, and there, through three windows, opening to the east, west, and north, obtained an excellent view of all the interesting portions of the surrounding landscape. Beneath us lay the famous plain, a rolling sea of verdure, yet lonely-looking, being without inhabitants. We saw no villages or huts dotting its surface, not even a solitary horseman, but only troops of gazelles galloping away into the distance, and some birds of prey, apparently vultures, wheeling in the sky, and doubtless looking out for work from their masters, the Bedouins. This green prairie stretches for upward of 20 miles toward the Mediterranean. It is the more striking from its contrast with the wild, bare hills among which we had been travelling, and with those which look down immediately upon it. It separates the highlands of southern Palestine from the hill-country of the more lowland north, as the plain along which the railway passes from Loch Lomond to Stirling separates the highlands of Rob Roy from the lowland hills of the Campsie range, that rise above the valley of the Clyde."