Mount Ephraim

For other places with the same name, see Mount Ephraim (disambiguation).

Mount Ephraim (Hebrew: הר אפרים‎), or alternately Mount of Ephraim, was the historical name for the central mountainous district of Israel once occupied by the tribe of Ephraim (Josh. 17:15; 19:50; 20:7), extending from Bethel to the plain of Jezreel. In Joshua's time (Josh. 17:18), approximately sometime between the 18th century BCE and the 13th century BCE, these hills were densely wooded. They were intersected by well-watered, fertile valleys, referred to in Jer. 50:19.

Joshua was buried at Timnath-heres among the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash (Judg. 2:9). This region is also called the "mountains of Israel" (Josh. 11:21) and the "mountains of Samaria" (Jer. 31:5, 6: Amos 3:9).

Israel's fourth judge and prophetess Deborah lived in this region. Her home was called "the palm tree of Deborah", and was between Bethel and Ramah in Benjamin. (Judg. 4:5)

This article incorporates text from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), a publication now in the public domain.