Bible Encyclopedias
Harod, Well of

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

hā´rod ( ען חרד , ‛ēn ḥărōdh , "fountain of trembling"): The fountain beside which (probably above it) Gideon and his army were encamped ( Judges 7:1 ). Moore (Judges , in the place cited.) argues, inconclusively, that the hill Moreh must be sought near Shechem, and that the well of Harod must be some spring in the neighborhood of that city. There is no good reason to question the accuracy of the common view which places this spring at ‛Ain Jalūd , on the edge of the vale of Jezreel, about 2 miles East of Zer‛ı̄n , and just under the northern cliffs of Gilboa. A copious spring of clear cold water rises in a rocky cave and flows out into a large pool, whence it drains off, in Nahr Jalūd , down the vale past Beisān to the Jordan. This is probably also to be identified with the spring "which is in Jezreel," i.e. in the district, near which Saul encamped before the battle of Gilboa (1 Samuel 29:1 ). ‛Ain el -Meiyiteh , just below Zer‛ı̄n on the North, is hardly of sufficient size and importance to be a rival to ‛Ain Jalūd . See ESDRAELON .