Rama: (Matthew 2:18) the Greek form of Ramah.1. A city first mentioned in
(Joshua 18:25) near Gibeah of Benjamin. It
was fortified by Baasha, king of Israel
(1 Kings 15:17-22; 2 Chronicles 16:1-6)
Asa, king of Judah, employed Benhadad the Syrian king to drive
Baasha from this city
(1 Kings 15:18,20) Isaiah
(Isaiah 10:29) refers
to it, and also Jeremiah, who was once a prisoner there among
the other captives of Jerusalem when it was taken by
Nebuchadnezzar
(Jeremiah 39:8-12; 40:1) Rachel, whose tomb lies
close to Bethlehem, is represented as weeping in Ramah
(Jeremiah 31:15)
for her slaughtered children. This prophecy is illustrated and
fulfilled in the re-awakening of Rachel's grief at the slaughter
of the infants in Bethlehem
(Matthew 2:18) It is identified with
the modern village of er-Ram, between Gibeon and Beeroth, about
5 miles due north of Jerusalem.
(See SAMUEL)
2. A town identified with Rameh, on the border of Asher, about
13 miles south-east of Tyre, "on a solitary hill in the midst
of a basin of green fields"
(Joshua 19:29)
3. One of the "fenced cities" of Naphtali
(Joshua 19:36) on a mountain
slope, about seven and a half miles west-south-west of Safed,
and 15 miles west of the north end of the Sea of Galilee, the
present large and well-built village of Rameh.
4. The same as Ramathaim-zophim (q.v.), a town of Mount Ephraim
(1 Samuel 1:1,19)
5. The same as Ramoth-gilead (q.v.),
(2 Kings 8:29; 2 Chronicles 22:6)
