Anathoth
Town of priests in the territory of Benjamin, a short way north-east of Jerusalem, and the home of the prophet Jeremiah. Its name survives in the village of Anata.
Anathoth was one of the towns assigned to the priests in the territory of Benjamin (Joshua 21:17–19). Solomon sent the priest Abiathar away to his fields there (1 Kings 2:26). Jeremiah came from its priestly families (Jeremiah 1:1). Men of the town threatened his life (Jeremiah 11:21–23), and during the last siege of Jerusalem he bought a field there from his cousin as a sign that land would be bought and sold again (Jeremiah 32:6–15). Isaiah names it on the path of an army advancing on Jerusalem from the north (Isaiah 10:28–32), and 128 of its men are listed among those who returned from exile (Ezra 2:23). The name survives in the village of Anata, north-east of the Old City, and the map places the ancient town there.
What happened here
- 627 BC, estimated dateThe Call of Jeremiah
In the thirteenth year of King Josiah, Jeremiah, of a priestly family at Anathoth, is called to be a prophet to the nations. For some forty years he warns Judah of disaster from the north, and he promises a new covenant written on the heart.