The Place Names in Ps. 132:6

This is a working draft of this exegetical issue. Is has not been reviewed or approved for use.

Introduction

Psalm 132:6 refers to what appear to be two place names:

הִנֵּֽה־שְׁמַֽעֲנ֥וּהָ בְאֶפְרָ֑תָה מְ֝צָאנ֗וּהָ בִּשְׂדֵי־יָֽעַר׃

Look! We heard about it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar:

The main options for Ephrathah:

1. Another name for Bethlehem
2. District to which the town of Kiriath-jearim belonged
3. A town near Bethel (a different Ephrathah than Bethlehem)
4. Ephraim (thus, in Shiloh)

The main options for Sadeh-jaar ("Field of the Forest"):

1. Another name for Kiriath-jearim, the place the ark was kept before David relocated it to Jerusalem.
2. An unknown location further from Jerusalem.

Argument Map(s)

Place 1: Ephrathah

Option 3: A town near Bethel

(a different Ephrathah than Bethlehem)

Option 4: Ephraim

(thus, in Shiloh)

Place 2: "Fields of Jaar"

Option 1: Region of Kiriath Jearim

This reading interprets the phrase שְׂדֵי־יָעַר (lit. 'the fields of Jaar') as a reference to the geographic region of the city Kiriath Jearim, where the ark was housed immediately before its relocation to Jerusalem.

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[Kiriath Jearim]: The phrase שְׂדֵי־יָעַר (lit. 'the fields of Jaar') refers to the region of the city Kiriath Jearim, where the ark was housed before its relocation to Jerusalem.
 + <Lexical range of n. שָׂדֶה>: The n. שָׂדֶה, here in the pl. construct שְׂדֵי, can refer to regions or territories (HALOT :L:).
  + [Examples]: Gen 14:7 ('defeated all the region (pl.) of the Amalekites'); 32:4 ('the country (s.) of Edom'); Ruth 1:1 ('the land (pl.) of Moab'); 2:6 ('the land (s.) of Moab')  
  + <Two pl. forms for n. שָׂדֶה>: The n. שָׂדֶה ('field') has two plurals: שָׂדִים ('fields,' 'countryside') and שָׂדוֹת (individual fields, individual farms); the former is used on Ps 132:6 (Joüon-Muraoka 2006: §90e :G:).
 + <Geographic place name changes>: Similar name changes (or multiple names) are well-attested. (Author Date:Page :C:).
  + [Supporting evidence title]: List supporting evidence here.
 + <Supporting accounts>: The location of the ark in Kiriath Jearim is attested elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible. 
  + [Biblical support]: 1 Sam 7:1–2; 1 Chron 13:6. 

Option 2: Unknown Alternate Location

The second possibility for the phrase 'fields of Jaar' is that is refers to another location otherwise unknown to us.

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[Unknown alternate location]: The phrase שְׂדֵי־יָעַר (lit. 'the fields of Jaar') refers to a city or a region otherwise unattested. 
 + <Phrase is otherwise unattested>: Nowhere else is the phrase שְׂדֵי־יָעַר (lit. 'the fields of Jaar') found in the Hebrew Bible or outside. #dispreferred. 
 - <Neg> argument. 

Research

Translations

Ancient

• LXX: ἰδοὺ ἠκούσαμεν αὐτὴν ἐν Εφραθα, εὕρομεν αὐτὴν ἐν τοῖς πεδίοις τοῦ δρυμοῦ [plains of the forest]·
• Tg: הָא שְׁמַעְנָא יָתָהּ בְּאֶפְרָת אַשְׁכַּחְנוּהָא בַּחֲקַל חוּרְשֵׁי לִבְנָן אֲתַר דְצַלִיאוּ אֲבָהָת עַלְמָא (Behold, we have heard it in Ephrat, we have found it in the field of the forests of Lebanon, the place where the fathers of old prayed [Cook])
• Hier: Secce audivimus eam in Efrata invenimus eam in campis silvae

Modern

Option 1

Ephrathah and 'the fields/region of Jaar'

• NASB: Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah, We found it in the field of Jaar.
• NIV: We heard it in Ephrathah, we came upon it in the fields of Jaar.
• NLT: We heard that the Ark was in Ephrathah; then we found it in the distant countryside of Jaar.
• NBLA: Oímos de ella en Efrata; La hallamos en los campos de Jaar.
• BHTI: Oímos que el Arca estaba en Efrata, la encontramos en los campos de Jaar.
• DHH941: En Efrata oímos hablar del arca de la alianza, y la encontramos en los campos de Jáar.
• Lut: Siehe, wir hörten von ihr in Efrata, wir haben sie gefunden im Gefilde von Jaar.
• Hfa: In Efrata bekamen wir Nachricht über die Bundeslade; wir fanden sie dann im Gebiet von Jaar.

Option 2

Ephrathah and 'the fields of the forest'

• KJV: Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: We found it in the fields of the wood.
• NVR95: En Efrata lo oímos; lo hallamos en los campos del bosque.

Option 3

Bethlehem and Kiriath Jearim

• NCV: We heard about the Ark in Bethlehem. We found it at Kiriath Jearim.

Option 4

Other

• NBV: En Efrata oímos hablar del cofre; dimos con él en los campos de Yagar.

Secondary Literature

UBS Handbook: Ephrathah seems to have been the older name of Bethlehem (see Ruth 1:1–2; Micah 5:2); Kiriath Jearim (here called the fields of Jaar) was a town some fourteen kilometers northwest of Jerusalem, where the Covenant Box stayed for some twenty years, after having been returned by the Philistines, who had captured it in battle (1 Sam 4:1–6:16). KJV “fields of the wood” is a possible translation of the Hebrew phrase; most modern scholars are convinced that the Hebrew phrase is a variant for Kiriath Jearim (which means “the city of woods”). . . . It seems best to translate as TEV has done [In Bethlehem we heard about the Covenant Box, and we found it in the fields of Jearim.]; GECL has “In Ephrathah we received the news about the Covenant Box of the Lord, and we found it in the vicinity of Jaar.” (Bratcher and Reyburn, UBS Handbook, 1090–1091).

References

132:6