Nephtoah was a spring that served as a boundary marker between the territories of Judah and Benjamin.
The waters of Nephtoah, also known as the fountain of Nephtoah, was a spring located on the border between the tribal territories of Judah and Benjamin (Josh. 15:9; 18:15). It was used as a reference point in defining the boundaries of these tribes during the allotment of the land under Joshua. The spring was situated northwest of Jerusalem, near the cities of Kiriath-jearim and Chesalon. Its exact location is uncertain, but it may be identified with modern-day Lifta, a spring-fed village near Jerusalem.
Approximate location: 31.683, 35.168 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
Opened, a fountain and a stream issuing from it on the border between Judah and Benjamin (Josh. 15:8, 9; 18:15). It has been identified with ‘Ain Lifta, a spring about 2 1/2 miles north-west of Jerusalem. Others, however, have identified it with ‘Ain’ Atan, on the south-west of Bethlehem, whence water is conveyed through “Pilate’s aqueduct” to the Haram area at Jerusalem.
(opening), The water of. The spring or source of the water or (inaccurately) waters of Nephtoah was one of the landmarks in the boundary line which separated Judah from Benjamin. (Joshua 15:9; 18:15) It lay northwest of Jerusalem in which direction, it seems to have been satisfactorily identified in Ain Lifta, a spring situated a little distance above the village of the same name.
NEPH'TOAH (opening), THE WATER OF. The spring or source of the water of Nephtoah, was one of the landmarks between Judah and Benjamin. Josh 15:9; Josh 18:15. It has been located north-west of Jerusalem and identified with Ain Lifta, a spring situated a little distance above the village of the same name. But Conder makes it identical with Ain 'Atan, south-west of Bethlehem, and from whence an old aqueduct once led to the temple, and now at intervals supplies the Haram area at Jerusalem through Pilate's aqueduct.
NEPH'TOAH (opening), THE WATER OF. The spring or source of the water of Nephtoah, was one of the landmarks between Judah and Benjamin. Josh 15:9; Josh 18:15. It has been located north-west of Jerusalem and identified with Ain Lifta, a spring situated a little distance above the village of the same name. But Conder makes it identical with Ain 'Atan, south-west of Bethlehem, and from whence an old aqueduct once led to the temple, and now at intervals supplies the Haram area at Jerusalem through Pilate's aqueduct.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
2 verses in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H5318
From the hilltop the border curved to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah, proceeded to the cities of Mount Ephron, and then bent around toward Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim).
On the south side the border began at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim and extended westward to the spring at the Waters of Nephtoah.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.