the Greek form of the Hebrew "Jezreel," the name of the great plain (called by the natives Merj Ibn Amer; i.e., "the meadow of the son of Amer") which stretches across Central Palestine from the Jordan to the Mediterraanean, separating the mountain ranges of Carmel and Samaria from those of Galilee, extending about 14 miles from north to south, and 9 miles from east to west. It is drained by "that ancient river" the Kishon, which flows westward to the Mediterranean. From the foot of Mount Tabor it branches out into three valleys, that on the north passing between Tabor and Little Hermon (Jg 4:14); that on the south between Mount Gilboa and En-gannim (2Ki 9:27); while the central portion, the "valley of Jezreel" proper, runs into the Jordan valley (which is about 1,000 feet lower than Esdraelon) by Bethshean. Here Gideon gained his great victory over the Midianites (Jg 7). Here also Barak defeated Sisera, and Saul's army was defeated by the Philistines, and king Josiah, while fighting in disguise against Necho, king of Egypt, was slain (2Ch 35:20-27; 2Ki 23-25). This plain has been well called the "battle-field of Palestine." "It has been a chosen place for encampment in every contest carried on in this country, from the days of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, in the history of whose wars with Arphaxad it is mentioned as the Great Plain of Esdraelon, until the disastrous march of Napoleon Bonaparte from Egypt into Syria. Jews, Gentiles, Saracens, Crusaders, Frenchmen, Egyptians, Persians, Druses, Turks, and Arabs, warriors out of every nation which is under heaven, have pitched their tents in the plain, and have beheld the various banners of their nations wet with the dews of Tabor and Hermon" (Dr. Clark).

Illustration: Plain of Esdraelon Illustration: Plain of Esdraelon (Map)

(See JEZREEL.)

The Greek name for Merj Ibn 'Amr, the great plain north of the range of Carmel. It is triangular in shape, the angles being defined by Tell el-Kassis in the N.W., Jenin in the S.E., and Tabor in the N.E. The dimensions of the area are about 20 miles N.W. to S.E., 14 miles N.E. to S.W. It affords a passage into the mountainous interior of Palestine, from the sea-coast at the harbours of the Bay of 'Acca. It is drained by the Kishon, and is, over nearly all its area, remarkably fertile. It was allotted to the tribe of Issachar.

Esdraelon has been the great battlefield of Palestine. Here Deborah and Barak routed the hosts of Jabin and Sisera (Jg 4), and here Gideon defeated the Midianites (7). Saul here fought his last battle with the Philistines (1Sa 28; 29; 30; 31). Josiah here attacked Pharaoh-necho on his way to Mesopotamia and was slain (2Ki 23:30). It is the scene of the encampment of Holofernes (Jdt 7:3), in connexion with which appears the name by which the valley is generally known: it is a Greek corruption of Jazreel. Here Saladin encamped in 1186; and, finally, here Napoleon encountered and defeated an army of Arabs in 1799. It is chosen by the Apocalyptic writer (Re 16:14-16) as the fitting scene for the final battle between the good and evil forces of the world.

R. A. S. Macalister.

Esdrae'lon

See JEZREEL.

Esdra-e'lon.

This name is merely the Greek form of the Hebrew word Jezreel. "The great plain of Esdraelon" extends across central Palestine from the Mediterranean to the Jordan, separating the mountain ranges of Carmel and Samaria from those of Galilee. The western section of it is properly the plain of Accho or 'Akka. The main body of the plain is a triangle. Its base on the east extends from Jenin (the ancient Engannim) to the foot of the hills below Nazareth, and is about 15 miles long; the north side, formed by the hills of Galilee, is about 12 miles long; and the south side, formed by the Samaria range, is about 18 miles. The apex on the west is a narrow pass opening into the plain of 'Akka. From the base of this triangular plain three branches stretch out eastward, like fingers from a hand, divided by two bleak, gray ridges --one bearing the familiar name of Mount Gilboa, the other called by Franks Little Hermon, but by natives Jebel ed-Duhy. The central branch is the richest as well as the most celebrated. This is the "valley of Jezreel" proper --the battle-field on which Gideon triumphed, and Saul and Jonathan were overthrown.

Jg 7:1

seq.;

1Sa 29:1

... and 1Sam 31:1 ... Two things are worthy of special notice in the plain of Esdraelon:

1. Its wonderful richness;

2. Its present desolation. If we except the eastern branches, there is not a single inhabited village on its whole surface, and not more than one-sixth of its soil is cultivated. It is the home of the wild wandering Bedouin.

ESDRAELON, PLAIN OF, in the tribe of Issachar, extends east and west from Scythopolis to Mount Carmel; called, likewise, the Great Plain, the Valley of Jezreel, the Plain of Esdrela. Dr. E. D. Clarke observes, it is by far the largest plain in the Holy Land; extending quite across the country from Mount Carmel and the Mediterranean Sea to the southern extremity of the Sea of Galilee; about thirty miles in length, and twenty in breadth. It is also a very fertile district, abounding in pasture; on which account it has been selected for the purposes of encampment by almost every army that has traversed the Holy Land. Here Barak, descending with his ten thousand men from Mount Tabor, which rises like a cone in the centre of the plain, defeated Sisera, with his "nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, gathered from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon; and pursued after the chariots and after the host unto Harosheth of the Gentiles; and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left," Judges 4. Here Josiah, king of Judah, fell, fighting against Necho, king of Egypt, 2Ki 23:29. And here the Midianites and the Amalekites, who were "like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels without number as the sand of the sea," encamped, when they were defeated by Gideon, Judges 6. This plain has likewise been used for the same purpose by the armies of every conqueror or invader, from Nabuchodonosor, king of Assyria, to his imitator, Napoleon Buonaparte, who, in the spring of 1799, with a small body of French, defeated an army of several thousand Turks and Mamelukes. Jews, Gentiles, Saracens, Christians, crusaders, and antichristian Frenchmen, Egyptians, Persians, Druses, Turks, and Arabs, warriors out of every nation which is under heaven, have pitched their tents in the Plain of Esdraelon; and have beheld the various banners of their nations wet with the dews of Tabor and of Hermon. And it is to this day generally found to be the place of encampment of large parties of Arabs.