Anathoth

Anathoth, meaning answers to prayer, was a priestly city in the territory of Benjamin assigned to the Levites (Josh. 21:18), located about three miles northeast of Jerusalem. It served as a city of refuge and was the hometown of the prophet Jeremiah, whose ministry was marked by his own townspeople's hostility and a plot against his life (Jer. 1:1; 11:21). Several of David's mighty men also came from Anathoth, including Abiezer and Jehu (2 Sam. 23:27; 1 Chr. 12:3).

The city features in the narrative of Solomon's early reign, when the king exiled the priest Abiathar to Anathoth following his support of Adonijah's attempted usurpation (1 Kings 2:26). Jeremiah's famous purchase of a field in Anathoth during the Babylonian siege became a prophetic sign of future restoration, affirming that houses, fields, and vineyards would again be bought in the land (Jer. 32:7–9).