Hillel I. Newman, «A Hippodrome on the Road to Ephrath», Vol. 86 (2005) 213-228
LXX to Gen 48,7 refers to a hippodrome in the vicinity of
Rachel’s Tomb. This cannot be satisfactorily explained as an exegetical creation
of the translator’s imagination and probably refers to a genuine structure. This
is also true of the stadium or hippodrome mentioned in Tg. Onq. to Gen
14,17, as the meeting place of Abram, the king of Sodom, and Melchizedek. Since
1QapGen locates the same meeting in the Valley of Beth Hakerem, which should be
identified as the valley between Ramat Rahel and Bethlehem, it is reasonable to
assume that both versions refer to the same hippodrome. There is no textual
justification for assuming a late interpolation in LXX and no geographical or
archeological justification for explaining these passages as allusions to a
Herodian hippodrome. LXX may attest to a case of profound Hellenistic influence
in Judea already under Ptolemaic rule.
A Hippodrome on the Road to Ephrath 221
mentioned again as a familiar site in the Copper Scroll from
Qumran (31), roughly contemporary with Josephus and quite possibly
referring to the same spot. Unfortunately, like so much else in the
Copper Scroll, the exact location is unclear. Josephus’ habitual
carelessness with regard to numbers and measurements should also
make us wonder how much confidence we should place in the precise
distance he records. The relevance for our question of his testimony,
as it stands by itself, can thus neither be affirmed nor denied (32).
Another source, however, yields far more promising results.
According to the Genesis Apocryphon of Qumran, Abram was
welcomed by the king of Sodom and by Melchizedek “while Abram
camped in the Valley of Shaveh, which is the Valley of the King, the
Valley of Beth Hakerem (amrk tyb t[qb)†(33). For the author of
1QapGen, the Valley of the King — or at least that part of it in which
the encounter took place — is identified with the Valley of Beth
Hakerem. How does that help us? First we must find Beth Hakerem,
known to us from several Biblical passages, then we may look for its
valley (34). Beth Hakerem has been identified by some with the village
of ‘Ain Karim, about six kilometers west of the Old City of Jerusalem,
(31) 3Q15, col. X, ll. 12-14. See J.T. MILIK, “Le rouleau de cuivre provenant
de la grotte 3Q (3Q15)â€, M. BAILLET – J.T. MILIK – R. DE VAUX, Les ‘petites
grottes’ de Qumrân. Textes (DJD 3; Oxford 1962) 274, 295; J.D. LEFKOVITS, The
Copper Scroll. 3Q15: A Reevaluation (STDJ 25; Leiden – Boston – Köln 2000)
348-349.
(32) Cf. below, n. 41.
(33) 1QapGen, col. XXII, ll. 13-14. Cf. J.A. FITZMYER, The Genesis
Apocryphon of Qumran Cave 1 (1Q20) (BibOr 18/B; Roma3 2004) 108-109; see
commentary on pp. 244-246.
(34) Josh 15,59 (LXX); Jer 6,1; Neh 3,14. Cf. mMid 3,4, which mentions the
Valley of Beth Hakerem, and note that the valley has insinuated itself into Tg. Neb
to Jer 6,1, where µrkh tyb has become aymrk t[qb tyb (sic!) (The Bible in Aramaic
Based on Old Manuscripts and Printed Texts. Vol. III, 149). Beth Hakerem is
mentioned in the Copper Scroll as well, separated by a single locus from the
Monument of Absalom, which we have just discussed (3Q15, col. X, l. 5 [DJD 3,
295]). This seems to imply the relative proximity of one to the other (cf. below,
n. 41). The discussion that follows deals exclusively with Judean Beth Hakerem
and not with the Galilean site of the same name. See the separate entries in Y.
TSAFRIR – L. DI SEGNI – J. GREEN, Tabula Imperii Romani. Iudaea – Palaestina
(Jerusalem 1994) 82. Another village of that name in the region of Shechem is
mentioned in Vitae prophetarum 9; see A.M. SCHWEMER, Studien zu den
frühjüdischen Prophetenlegenden Vitae Prophetarum (Texte und Studien zum
antiken Judentum 50; Tübingen 1996) II, 43. The modern neighborhood of Beth
Hakerem in Jerusalem likewise has nothing to do with our problem.