Mahanaim: Two camps, a place near the Jabbok, beyond Jordan, where Jacob was met
by the "angels of God," and where he divided his retinue into "two
hosts" on his return from Padan-aram
(Genesis 32:2) This name was
afterwards given to the town which was built at that place. It was
the southern boundary of Bashan
(Joshua 13:26,30) and became a city of
the Levites
(Joshua 21:38) Here Saul's son Ishbosheth reigned
(2 Samuel 2:8,12)
while David reigned at Hebron. Here also, after a troubled reign,
Ishbosheth was murdered by two of his own bodyguard
(2 Samuel 4:5-7) who
brought his head to David at Hebron, but were, instead of being
rewarded, put to death by him for their cold-blooded murder. Many
years after this, when he fled from Jerusalem on the rebellion of his
son Absalom, David made Mahanaim, where Barzillai entertained him,
his headquarters, and here he mustered his forces which were led
against the army that had gathered around Absalom. It was while
sitting at the gate of this town that tidings of the great and
decisive battle between the two hosts and of the death of his son
Absalom reached him, when he gave way to the most violent grief
(2 Samuel 17:24-27) The only other reference to Mahanaim is as a station
of one of Solomon's purveyors
(1 Kings 4:14) It has been identified
with the modern Mukhumah, a ruin found in a depressed plain called
el-Bukie'a, "the little vale," near Penuel, south of the Jabbok, and
north-east of es-Salt.
