Kirjath-jearim

Kirjath-jearim (meaning city of jaars, forests or thickets) was a Gibeonite town that made a treaty with Joshua and was never conquered (Joshua 9:17). It became most famous as the resting place of the ark of the covenant: after the Philistines returned the ark following the disasters at Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron, it came to Beth-shemesh and then to Kirjath-jearim, where it remained in the house of Abinadab on the hill for twenty years—the entire period from its return until David brought it to Jerusalem (1 Samuel 7:1–2; 2 Samuel 6).

It was during this period that the ark was under the care of Eleazar son of Abinadab, and in Kirjath-jearim that Samuel began his ministry of calling Israel to repentance (1 Samuel 7:2–6). The city also appears as the birthplace of the prophet Uriah son of Shemaiah, who prophesied during Jehoiakim's reign and was later executed (Jeremiah 26:20–23). The site is identified with Tell el-Azhar/Deir el-Azar on a prominent hill nine miles west of Jerusalem, a location from which the ridge leading toward Jerusalem and the strategic roads of the Judean highlands are visible.