Anathoth

Jeremiah was a priest’s son before he was a prophet, and the book opens by saying where he came from: “of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.” The same small town appears centuries later in Ezra 2, where “the men of Anathoth” are counted among those who came back from exile. Its name is also written in the list of leaders in Nehemiah 10. So Anathoth connects a prophet’s boyhood to the returning families, with the town itself staying in the background. Begin with Jeremiah 1 for the first of those pictures.

4 verses

Joshua

Joshua 21:11

And they gave them the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with the suburbs thereof round about it.

Ezra

Ezra 2:23

The men of Anathoth, an hundred twenty and eight.

Nehemiah

Nehemiah 10:19

Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1:1

The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

The name of one of the cities of refuge, in the tribe of Benjamin (Josh. 21:18). The Jews, as a rule, did not change the names of the towns they found in Palestine; hence this town may be regarded as deriving its name from the goddess Anat. It was the native place of Abiezer, one of David’s “thirty” (2 Sam. 23:27), and of Jehu, another of his mighty men (1 Chr. 12:3). It is chiefly notable, however, as the birth-place and usual residence of Jeremiah (Jer. 1:1; 11:21-23; 29:27; 32:7-9). It suffered greatly from the army of Sennacherib, and only 128 men returned to it from the Exile (Neh. 7:27; Ezra 2:23). It lay about 3 miles north of Jerusalem. It has been identified with the small and poor village of ‘Anata, containing about 100 inhabitants.

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From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

Anathoth

a priests’ city belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, with "suburbs." (Joshua 21:18; 1 Chronicles 6:60) Anathoth lay about three miles from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 10:30) The cultivation of the priests survives in tilled fields of grain, with figs and olives. There are the remains of walls and strong foundations, and the quarries still supply Jerusalem with building stones.

Anathoth

(answers to prayer).

(1.) Son of Becher, a son of Benjamin. (1 Chronicles 7:8)

(2.) One of the "heads of the people" who signed the covenant in the time of Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:19) (B.C. 410.)