Three cities of this name have successively occupied sites in
the same neighbourhood. I. A city of Canaan taken and destroyed
by Josue after the passage of the Jordan (Joshua 6). The
establishment of the Israelites in the industries of the "City
of Palm Trees" gave birth to the Jericho of Benjamin (Joshua
18:21), which was for some time dominated by Eglon, King of Moab
(Judges 3:12), and in which David's emissaries hid themselves
when they had been outraged by Hanon, King of the Ammonites (2
Samuel 10:5). But when, under Achab, the Canaanite Jericho had
been restored by Hiel the Bethelite (1 Kings 16:34), the
Israelites installed themselves there. They were visited by
Eliseus, who purified the waters of the spring (2 Kings
2:18-22). Three hundred and forty-five men of Jericho, returning
from captivity, repopulated their native city (Ezra 2:34;
Nehemiah 7:36). Having fallen into the hands of the Syrians, it
was fortified by Bacchides, to protect Judea on the eastern side
(1 Maccabees 9:50). This Jericho was si