{"id": "card_n_d4d214cd80d8", "kind": "note", "title": "Easton: Rama", "body": "(Matt. 2:18), the Greek form of Ramah. (1.) A city first mentioned in Josh. 18:25, near Gibeah of Benjamin. It was fortified by Baasha, king of Israel (1 Kings 15:17-22; 2 Chr. 16:1-6). Asa, king of Judah, employed Benhadad the Syrian king to drive Baasha from this city (1 Kings 15:18, 20). 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 (Jer. 39:8-12; 40:1). Rachel, whose tomb lies close to Bethlehem, is represented as weeping in Ramah (Jer. 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 (Matt. 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” (Josh. 19:29). (3.) One of the “fenced cities” of Naphtali (Josh. 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 Sam. 1:1, 19). (5.) The same as Ramoth-gilead (q.v.), 2 Kings 8:29; 2 Chr. 22:6.", "source": {"label": "Matthew Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary (1897)", "url": "/encyclopedia.html?ref=Rama", "ref": "Rama", "authority_tier": "external_aligned"}, "shelf": "dictionary", "box": "easton_person_q_t", "bands": ["easton", "bible_dictionary", "person"], "connections": [{"to_card_id": "card_n_bd88880279be", "relationship": "cites", "via_connection_card_id": "card_c_3175c3c68043"}, {"to_card_id": "card_n_b3d286d98c09", "relationship": "cites", "via_connection_card_id": "card_c_1c382091d192"}, {"to_card_id": "card_n_de6be72e6b25", "relationship": "cites", "via_connection_card_id": "card_c_46dff7e1616b"}], "author": "engine", "created_at": "2026-05-19T13:11:11.687795+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-05-19T19:50:46.840010+00:00", "visibility": "public", "lifecycle_stage": "public", "volatility": "permanent", "metrics": {"paperclips_count": 0, "helpful_count": 0, "not_helpful_count": 0, "cite_count": 6, "walks_through_count": 0, "flagged_count": 0}, "source_hash": "0dd89cffd46fd34b64e53e2ee8c903e1368da8028beb1fdc535354fd3ca5a17c", "witnesses": [{"class": "manuscript_tradition", "label": "Original 1897 publication — Thomas Nelson, London", "ref": "Easton-1897"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "Project Gutenberg — Easton's Bible Dictionary", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45696", "ref": "PG-45696"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "Internet Archive — multiple scans", "url": "https://archive.org/details/eastonsillustra00east", "ref": "IA-Easton"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "CCEL — Easton's Bible Dictionary", "url": "https://www.ccel.org/e/easton/ebd/", "ref": "CCEL-Easton"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "Blue Letter Bible — searchable Easton's", "url": "https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/easton/", "ref": "BLB-Easton"}], "witness_status": "passed", "witness_status_reason": "5 witnesses across 2 independence classes: ['manuscript_tradition', 'republication']", "surface": "secular"}