Jericho
“Place of fragrance or moon city”
Summary
An ancient fortified city in the Jordan Valley, known as 'the city of palm trees,' whose miraculous conquest under Joshua marked Israel's first victory in Canaan and demonstrated God's power over the strongholds of the enemy.
☩Location and Significance
Jericho stood in a plain traversed by the Jordan River, approximately five miles west of the river and seven miles northwest of the Dead Sea. Its name likely derives from a Hebrew root meaning 'fragrance,' probably referring to the balsamous herbs growing there, or possibly from the word for 'moon,' suggesting it was a center of Canaanite moon worship. Known as 'the city of palm trees,' Jericho's location in a fertile oasis made it one of the most important cities in the Jordan valley, serving as a strategic gateway to the hill country of Canaan. The city had considerable walls, upon which houses were built, including that of Rahab.
☩The Conquest Under Joshua
Jericho was the first city conquered by Israel after crossing the Jordan. Joshua sent two spies who were sheltered by Rahab the harlot, who confessed that 'the terror of Israel had fallen upon the inhabitants.' The city was placed under the divine ban (cherem): all inhabitants and possessions were to be destroyed except Rahab's household and metals consecrated to the Lord. For six days the Israelites marched around the city with the ark and priests blowing trumpets; on the seventh day they circled seven times, and at the priests' long blast and the people's shout, the walls fell flat. This miraculous collapse demonstrated that Israel's occupation of Canaan was God's gift, not human achievement. Joshua pronounced a curse on anyone who would rebuild the city's walls, fulfilled when Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt it during Ahab's reign, losing his firstborn and youngest sons in the process.
☩Later History
After its destruction, Jericho's site was given to the tribe of Benjamin, lying also on Ephraim's border. The city appears again when David's humiliated ambassadors were told to tarry at Jericho until their beards grew back. In Elisha's time, a school of prophets resided there, and the prophet healed the city's bitter waters by casting in salt, symbolizing heavenly blessing replacing the curse. Captives of Judah were released at Jericho following the prophet Oded's denunciation. In the plains of Jericho, King Zedekiah was captured by the Babylonians. Returning exiles from Babylon numbered 345 'children of Jericho,' who helped rebuild Jerusalem's walls under Nehemiah.
☩Jericho in the New Testament
By Christ's time, Jericho had become a prosperous city under Herod the Great, who built palaces there and made it a winter residence. The city served as a major stopping point for Galilean pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem via the Jordan valley route. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho, descending steeply through barren, robber-infested hills, provided the setting for Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan. At Jericho, Jesus healed blind Bartimaeus (and another blind man), and encountered Zacchaeus the chief tax collector, whose conversion demonstrated that 'the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.' The modern village of Riha occupies the site, though ancient Jericho lay slightly to the northwest near Elisha's fountain.
Related Verses63 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Jericho," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IV (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Jericho," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. III (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.George Morrish, "Jericho," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 4.James Hastings (ed.), "Jericho," in Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1906–1908).