What is…
Beth-haccerem

also known as: Beth-haccherem, Beth Hakkerem, or Beit HaKerem (modern Israeli English spelling)

Hebrew: בֵּית הכֶּרֶם —transliteration: Beth Hakkerem —meaning: house of the vineyard

Meaning: house of a vineyard

This ancient place in Israel is first noted in the book of Nehemiah.

Malchijah the son of Rechab, the official of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate [in Jerusalem]. He built it and made its doors stand with its bolts and its bars. —Nehemiah 3:14

This district was located within the tribe of Judah where the Benjamites were to set up a beacon when they heard the trumpet against the invading army of the Babylonians.

“Flee for safety, O sons of Benjamin,
From the midst of Jerusalem
Now blow a trumpet in Tekoa
And raise a signal over Beth-haccerem,
For evil looks down from the north,
As well as great destruction.” —Jeremiah 6:1

Scholars propose identifications for the biblical site as:

• Ein Kerem (aka 'Ain Karim) (southwest of Jerusalem)

  This name means spring or fountain/well of the vineyards, and it is near a ridge on which are large rock cairns which may have served as beacon sites of old, one of which is 40 feet high and 130 in diameter.

  The modern hill village there is called Ein Kerem, Israel. It contains 2 venerated sites, a cave which is claimed to be where John the Baptist was born, and a spring called Mary’s Spring, from which it is claimed that Jesus’ mother Mary drank at some point.

• Ramat Rachel (south of Jerusalem)

• Herodium/Frank Mountain (near Tekoa)

The actual biblical location remains uncertain and debated.

The modern placed named Beit HaKerem Valley in Israel is not the original location of the biblical place, but it is simply named after it.

More information

• Answers about grapes in the Bible
• About wine in the Bible
• Who is Jeremiah?
• What is the Book of Jeremiah?
• What is a spring? What springs are mentioned in the Bible?
• Places in the Bible