weeping over the loss of her children, and refusing to be comforted because of their captivity. This, though called Ramathaim-zophim, was also the place of Samuel's birth, residence, death and burial, and where he anointed Saul as king.—(1 Sam. i. 1, 19; ii. 11; vii.17; viii. 4; xix. 18; xxv. 1,) Ramah, or Ramathaim, or Ramathaim-zophim, of the Old, is the Arimathea of the New Testament, where dwelt Joseph, in whose tomb the body of Christ was buried.—(John xix. 33.) There is now a village on the hill where was the site of Ramah, called Samuele by the Arabs. Jerusalem is easily seen from this height. There was another Rama in Naphthali.—(Josh. xix. 36.)
Sibmah, (Isa. xvi. 8, 9,) or Shibmah, (Num. xxxii. 38.) A city of Reuben, near by Heshbon, celebrated for the luxuriant growth of the vine.—(Jer. xlviii. 32) It fell into the hands of the Moabites after the captivity of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, by Tiglath-pileser; and hence the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah weep for Moab, because the spoiler had broken the vines of Sibmah. Probably the expression in the passage from Jeremiah refers either to the universal reputation of the vines of Sibmah, or it is poetically used to denote the luxuriance of their growth. The "Sea of Jazer" was perhaps 15 or 20 miles from Sibmah.
Shunem. (Josh. xix. 18.) A town in the territory of Issachar, and a little south of Nain. It is associated with several important incidents of Jewish history, (1 Sam xxviii. 4; 1 Kings i. 3; 2 Kings viii. 1—16,) and especially as the place where Elisha tarried on his journeys between Gilgal and Carmel, and where he performed a miracle under circumstances of unusual interest.—(2 Kings iv. 8—37.) The inhabitants were called Shunamites.
Shiloh, (Josh, xviii. 1,) where Samuel began to prophesy, (1 Sam. iii. 21,) and where Abijah lived, 1) Kings xiv. 2,) was a city of Ephraim between Lebanon and Bethel, 10 miles south of Shechem, and about 25 miles north of Jerusalem. Here Joshua fixed the tabernacle of God, and here it continued at least 310 years. Shiloh was one of the names of Jesus Christ the great Deliverer—he that frees from the law, sin and death.
