Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

This post lists most of the places outside of Genesis to which the Bible 
gives a proper name that includes (MQ, which is usually translated into 
English as “Valley”, but which in Hebrew actually means “deep place”.  
[Excluded 
here are the numerous references in the Bible to (MQ or “valleys” in 
general, where valleys are routinely generically contrasted with mountains or 
hill country.  Here we are dealing only with specific, named valleys.]  As 
Gesenius aptly notes, an (MQ is usually big and broad enough for there to be 
crops there, and/or the site of a large military battle.
 
We might start, however, by noting that to the east of Jerusalem is Kidron, 
which is neither deep nor directly connected to either the Jordan River 
Valley or the Shephelah.  Though in English it is frequently referred to as 
the 
Kidron “Valley”, in the Bible it is consistently referred to as the “brook”
/NXL of Kidron.  Once it is paired with “fields”/$DMH, but never with “
valley”/(MQ.
 
By contrast, the Valley/(MQ of Rephaim is southwest of Jerusalem.  It is 
deep, so it is a “deep place”, and it connects with the Valley/(MQ of Elah in 
the Shephelah.  The Valley of Rephaim is broad enough for King David to win 
two great military victories over the Philistines there, and Isaiah 17: 5 
says that crops are planted in the Valley of Rephaim.  So this Rephaim locale 
has all the hallmarks of being a classic (MQ in Biblical Hebrew.
 
All references to (MQ in the Bible seem to be to deep places, usually 
either being, or being directly connected to, either the Jordan River Valley 
or 
one of the following of the valleys in the northeastern Shephelah:  the 
Ayalon Valley or the Elah Valley.  [For all these cases I only give one 
citation. 
 However, many of these places, like the Achor Valley, are frequently 
referenced throughout the Bible, consistently using the nomenclature (MQ.]  
 
Please note in particular how many places in the Shephelah are called (MQ 
in the Bible.  [Per my prior post, cities lying in a gorge or basin high up 
in the mountains, such as Shechem or King David’s mountainous city of Hebron, 
are not referred to as being (MQ in the Hebrew Bible.  By sharp contrast, 
many places in, or connected to, the Shephelah are called (MQ in the Hebrew 
Bible.]
 
1.  Achor Valley.  Joshua 7: 25 valley of Achor;  a valley near Jericho, 
which either is in the Jordan River Valley, or else is on the eastern edge of 
hill country and is connected to the Jordan River Valley.  
 
2.  Ayalon Valley.  Joshua 10: 12 Ayalon Valley in the Shephelah.
 
3.  Jezreel Valley.  Joshua 17: 16 valley of Jezreel.
 
4.  Keziz Valley.  Joshua 18: 21 valley of Keziz;  may be the same as the 
valley of Achor, and in any event is either in the Jordan River Valley near 
Jericho, or is connected thereto.
 
5.  Valley of Beth Shemesh.  I Samuel 6: 13 pairs Beth Shemesh in the 
Shephelah with valley.  Beth Shemesh is in the Sorek Valley, which is near 
the 
Elah Valley.
 
6.  Elah Valley.  I Samuel 17: 2 valley of Elah, again in the Shephelah.
 
7.  Rephaim Valley.  II Samuel 5: 18 valley of Rephaim, southwest of 
Jerusalem, connected to the Elah Valley in the Shephelah, as noted above.
 
8.  Berachah Valley.  II Chronicles 20: 26 valley of Berachah [sometimes 
rendered as “Valley of Blessings”].  Exact reference is unclear.  Thought to 
be located between Jerusalem and the city of Hebron, west of Tekoa, near the 
Ridge Route.  Though the exact location is not known, the Ridge Route is 
notable for having very steep descents into “deep places” just to either the 
east or the west of the Ridge Route.  Since it’s west, rather than east, of 
Tekoa, it may connect to the Shephelah.  Presumably the Valley of Berachah 
is a “deep place”, and it’s big and broad enough for Jehoshaphat to have won 
a great military victory there over the Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites.
 
9.  Succoth Valley.  Psalm 60: 6 valley of Succoth.  Precise location 
unclear, but presumably it’s in the Jordan River Valley near the Jabbok 
River, or 
else it’s connected thereto.
 
10.  Baca Valley.  Psalm 84: 6 valley of Baca.  Exact reference is unclear, 
but it’s near Jerusalem, and it may be the same place as the Valley of 
Rephaim above, which is connected to the Shephelah.  Sometimes rendered as “
Valley of Weeping”, though there are multiple, competing explanations of the 
name.  Presumably it’s a “deep place” in any event, perhaps symbolically 
because it was lined with tombs, or perhaps being broad enough for 
mulberry/balsam trees, like the Rephaim Valley.
 
11.  Valley of Gibeon.  Isaiah 28: 21 valley of Gibeon;  Gibeon itself is 
situated on a hill between hill country and the Shephelah.  The valley of 
Gibeon would presumably be in or near the Shephelah, immediately southwest of 
the city of Gibeon, and as such directly connected to the Ayalon Valley.  To 
get to an easily accessible entrance to the Ayalon Valley, one goes straight 
west or even slightly northwest to Beth Horon, and from there one turns 
straight south to enter the Ayalon Valley.  But immediately southwest of 
Gibeon, though not easily accessible, is a “deep place”:  the easternmost 
edge of 
the Ayalon Valley, being the far northeast corner of the Shephelah. 
 
12.  Valley of Jehoshaphat.  Joel 3: 12 valley of Jehoshaphat;  may be near 
Jerusalem or Bethelem, or may be entirely symbolic, rather than being an 
actual valley.  Though it may be largely poetic, it is at least figuratively 
a 
“deep place”. 
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois