What is the…
Valley of Jezreel

also known as: Jezreel Valley, Plain of Esdraelon, Valley of Megiddo, Plain of Megiddo

This area lays on the northern side of the ancient city of Jezreel, between the ridges of Gilboa and Moreh, an offshoot of Esdraelon, running east to the Jordan (Joshua 17:16; Judges 6:33; Hos. 1:5)

This place was the scene of the striking victory gained by the Israelites under Gideon over the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the “children of the east” (Judges 6:3).

Two centuries after this the Israelites were here defeated by the Philistines, and King Saul and prince Jonathan, with the flower of the army of Israel, fell (1 Samuel 31:1-6).

During the ages, the name Valley of Jezreel extended to the whole of the plain of Esdraelon. It was only this plain of Jezreel and that north of Lake Huleh that were then accessible to the chariots of the Canaanites (compare 2 Kings 9:21; 10:15).

The city of Beth-shean was strategically located at the junction of the Jezreel Valley and the Jordan River Valley.