Bible Studies In The Word of God

 

The Jezreel Valley

The Jezreel Valley is the largest and most fertile valley in Palestine. It is shaped roughly like the head of a spear with its point facing northwest toward the Mediterranean. The shaft of the spearhead, the narrow Harod Valley, leads southeast to Beth-shean and the Jordan Valley. Together, the Jezreel and Harod Valleys are the land's most important international crossroads.

 

Jezreel means "God sows," which is certainly a fitting name for the valley that is Palestine's breadbasket. Besides the name "Valley of Jezreel" (Josh. 17:16; Judg. 6:33; Hos. 1:5), the Bible also calls this region "the plain of Megiddo" (Zech. 12:11) and, poetically, "the pasturelands of God" (Ps. 83:12). The term Esdraelon is a Greek form of Jezreel occurring only in extrabiblical literature from the New Testament period. Armageddon (Rev. 16:16) is a Greek word that has long been assumed to render the Hebrew phrase har Megiddo, "the mountain of Megiddo"; it is usually understood as referring to the entire Jezreel Valley.

 

Jerome Murphy-O'Connor has characterized Megiddo as "the royal box in one of the great theatres of history. From time immemorial armies have surged from the surrounding valleys to play their parts on the flat stage of the Jezreel valley" (Jerome Murphy O'Connor, The Holy Land, 4th ed., New York: Oxford, 1998, p. 342). The Bible records several military actions that took place in the Jezreel and Harod Valleys. These include the battle of Deborah and Barak against Sisera (Judg. 4-5); the battle of Gideon against the Midianites (Judg. 7); Saul's last stand against the Philistines (1 Sam. 28:4; 31:1-10); Jehu's coup d'etat (2 Kings 9:14-37); and Josiah's attempted face-down of Pharaoh Neco (2 Kings 23:28-30).

 

The mountains that surround the Jezreel Valley contrast sharply with the low, open expanse of the valley itself. The Jezreel is drained toward the Mediterranean by the Nahal Kishon, which collects runoff rainfall from the surrounding hills. Because of the flatness of the Jezreel, the size of its runoff area, and the narrowness of the pass at the foot of Mount Carmel through which the valley drains, a heavy rainstorm will turn the valley floor into a soggy, muddy morass. Wintertime conditions have impeded armies, chariots, and travelers throughout history (cp. Judg. 4:13-15; 5:19-21; 1 Kings 18:45-46). To the east, the valley floor dips below sea level at the point where the Harod Valley joins the Jezreel, then drops gradually into the rift. The Harod is drained by the Nahal Harod. Several powerful springs line the foot of Mount Gilboa along its southern edge (Judg. 7:1).

 

The rich alluvial soil of the Jezreel Valley is as much as 330 feet deep in places, and the abundance of water ensures excellent crops even in years of limited rainfall. The agriculture possibilities here are so extraordinary compared to the rest of Palestine that Herod the Great claimed the valley as his own royal estate. Today the Jezreel is drained and fertile fields abound.

 

Because of the muddy wintertime conditions, the Jezreel's natural routes generally follow the perimeter of the valley. The exception is the International Coastal Highway. An underground rise of basalt has slightly raised the level of the valley floor on a line running between Megiddo and Mount Tabor. In antiquity the International Highway followed this low ridge across the Jezreel as it began to pick its way through the natural obstacles of Galilee to Damascus.

 

The Jezreel Valley has always been the major crossroads of Palestine. Here the main International Highway crosses a second that connects the Plain of Acco to the Jordan Valley and Transjordanian Highway beyond. The ceaseless flow of travelers and armies through the Jezreel via these international highways gave rise to the biblical phrase "Galilee of the Gentiles" (Isa. 9:1; Matt. 4:15).

 

Because of its superior farmland and strategic highways, the Jezreel Valley has always been one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in Palestine. Overflowing with material blessings, this valley was Israel's testing ground of faith. Perhaps for this reason it figures so prominently in John's Apocalypse (Rev. 16:16).