View source for Mahanaim

{{Short description|Biblical place beyond the Jordan River}}
{{Refimprove|date=April 2020}}
{{About|the Biblical location|the kibbutz|Mahanayim|the organization|Machanaim|the game|Machanayim}}
{{hiero|1=mjꜣḥꜣnjmꜥ<ref name = Gauthier17/><ref name = Budge998/> |2=<hiero>G20-M15-G1-N35:Aa15:D36-N25</hiero>|era=3ip|align=right}} 
[[File:Gad. 1852 Philip Map of Palestine - Israel - Holy Land - Geographicus - Palestine-philip-1852.jpg|thumb|Territory of Gad on an 1852 map: Mahanaim can be seen in the northeast corner of the pink-shaded area of Gad]]
'''Mahanaim''' ({{langx|he|מַחֲנַיִם}} ''Maḥănayīm'', "camps") is a place mentioned a number of times by the [[Bible]] said to be near [[Jabbok]], in the same general area as [[Jabesh-gilead]], beyond the [[Jordan River]]. Although two possible sites have been identified, the precise location of Mahanaim is uncertain. Tell edh-Dhahab el-Gharbi, the western one of the twin [[Tulul adh-Dhahab]] [[Tell (archaeology)|tell]]s, is one proposed identification. 

==Biblical narrative==
In the Biblical narrative, the first mentioned of Mahanaim occurs in the [[Book of Genesis]] as the place where [[Jacob]], returning from [[Padan-aram]] to southern [[Canaan]], had a vision of [[angel]]s ({{bibleverse|Genesis|32:2|KJV}}). Believing it to be "God's camp", Jacob names the place Mahanaim ([[Hebrew]] for "Two Camps", or "Two Companies") to memorialize the occasion of his own company sharing the place with God's. Later in the story, Jacob is moved by fear at the approach of his brother [[Esau]] (whom he has reason to fear) and as a result divided his retinue into ''two hosts'' (two companies), hence the town built on the site took ''two hosts'' as its name. 

According to the [[Book of Joshua]] and [[1 Chronicles]] it became a [[Levitical city]] ({{bibleverse|Joshua|13:26-30|KJV}}, {{bibleverse|Joshua|21:38|KJV}}; cf. {{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|6:80|KJV}}), having been located at the southern boundary of [[Bashan]] until the conquest of [[Canaan]] by the [[Israelites]] ({{bibleverse|Joshua|13:26-30|KJV}}). 

In the Biblical narrative, around the start of the ''[[United Monarchy]]'', the city was a stronghold that had been adapted to serve as a sanctuary for important fugitives ([[2 Samuel]] 18:2); the narrative states that after King [[Saul the King|Saul]] died, [[Abner]], the commander of Saul’s army, established Saul’s son, [[Ish-bosheth]], in Mahanaim as king of Israel (2 Samuel 2:8). 

Mahanaim is the location to which David is described as fleeing while at war with his son [[Absalom]]; having arrived at Mahanaim (2 Samuel 17:24), David is described as having sheltered with a man named [[Barzillai]], and having mustered forces there to combat [[Absalom]]'s army. It is also the location that the Bible states was the place where David was informed about his victory over Absalom, and the death of his son.

The "dance of Mahanaim" is mentioned in [[Song of Songs]] 6:13.

==Historical analysis==
According to [[Gaston Maspero]] (''The Struggle of the Nations'', p.&nbsp;773), Mahanaim was among the cities plundered by [[Shishak]] during his invasion (1 Kings 14:25) of Israelitish territory, also [[Jean-François Champollion|Champollion]], [[Ippolito Rosellini|Rosellini]] and [[Wallis Budge|Budge]] share his view identifying '''Ma'hanema'''' with Mahanaim.<ref name= Gauthier17>{{cite book |last1=Gauthier |first1=Henri |title=Dictionnaire des Noms Géographiques Contenus dans les Textes Hiéroglyphiques Vol. 3 |date=1926 |page=17 |url=https://archive.org/details/Gauthier1926/page/n11}}</ref><ref name = Budge998>{{cite book |last1=Wallis Budge |first1=E. A. |title=An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary: with an index of English words, king list and geological list with indexes, list of hieroglyphic characters, coptic and semitic alphabets, etc. Vol II |date=1920 |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/egyptianhierogly02budguoft/page/998 998] |url=https://archive.org/details/egyptianhierogly02budguoft}}</ref> There is no subsequent reference to the city in the annals, and it is not improbable that a vigorous resistance to Shishak or to some other invader brought about its utter demolition.

==References==
<references />
{{JewishEncyclopedia|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=M&artid=67|article=Mahanaim}}

[[Category:Book of Genesis]]
[[Category:Book of Joshua]]
[[Category:Books of Chronicles]]
[[Category:Books of Samuel]]
[[Category:Books of Kings]]
[[Category:Song of Songs]]
[[Category:Torah places]]
[[Category:Levitical cities]]
[[Category:Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)]]