BibleLectio

Places › Michmash

Michmash in the Bible.

Michmash is a town in the Bible, about 11 km (7 miles) north of Jerusalem. The King James Version names it in 11 verses, from 1 Samuel 13:2 to Isaiah 10:28.

Read it in BibleLectio

What happened at Michmash.

Something hidden, a town of Benjamin (Ezra 2:27), east of Bethel and south of Migron, on the road to Jerusalem (Isa. 10:28). It lay on the line of march of an invading army from the north, on the north side of the steep and precipitous Wady es-Suweinit (“valley of the little thorn-tree” or “the acacia”), and now bears the name of Mukhmas. This wady is called “the passage of Michmash” (1 Sam. 13:23). Immediately facing Mukhmas, on the opposite side of the ravine, is the modern representative of Geba, and behind this again are Ramah and Gibeah.

This was the scene of a great battle fought between the army of Saul and the Philistines, who were utterly routed and pursued for some 16 miles towards Philistia as far as the valley of Aijalon. “The freedom of Benjamin secured at Michmash led through long years of conflict to the freedom of all its kindred tribes.” The power of Benjamin and its king now steadily increased. A new spirit and a new hope were now at work in Israel.

From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).

People named with Michmash.

Benjamin 3Saul 3Jonathan 2Samuel 1

Near Michmash.

All 11 verses that name Michmash.

1 Samuel 7

  • 1 Samuel 13:2Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.
  • 1 Samuel 13:5And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth-aven.
  • 1 Samuel 13:11And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash;
  • 1 Samuel 13:16And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present with them, abode in Gibeah of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.
  • 1 Samuel 13:23And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage of Michmash.
  • 1 Samuel 14:5The forefront of the one was situate northward over against Michmash, and the other southward over against Gibeah.
  • 1 Samuel 14:31And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were very faint.

Ezra 1

  • Ezra 2:27The men of Michmas, an hundred twenty and two.

Nehemiah 2

  • Nehemiah 7:31The men of Michmas, an hundred and twenty and two.
  • Nehemiah 11:31The children also of Benjamin from Geba dwelt at Michmash, and Aija, and Bethel, and in their villages,

Isaiah 1

  • Isaiah 10:28He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages:

Questions about Michmash.

Where is Michmash in the Bible?

Michmash is a town about 11 km (7 miles) north of Jerusalem. BibleLectio shows it on a painted map of the Bible’s world, with every verse that names it.

How many times is Michmash named in the Bible?

The King James Version names Michmash in 11 verses, in 4 books, from 1 Samuel 13:2 to Isaiah 10:28.

Which people are named with Michmash in the Bible?

The verses that name Michmash also name Benjamin, Saul, Jonathan and Samuel.

Every place in the Bible, on one map.

Open BibleLectioComing to the App Store