AQRABBIM (Hebrew Ma'aleh 'Aqrabbim "Ascent of Scorpions"). - A locality situated between the Dead Sea and the desert of Zin (Num. 34:3-4; Josh. 15:2-3), on the road that climbed from Sela (Petra) to Hebron (Judg. 1:36). It marked the southern boundary of the Promised Land (Num. 34:4) and of the tribe of Judah (Josh. 15:3), as well as the boundary of the territory of the Amorites (Judg. 1:36). It is commonly identified with the mountain gorge of Naqb es-Safa (at 466 m. above sea level) to the southwest of the Dead Sea. The surrounding region was later called Acrabatene ('Ἀκραβαττίνης'). Vulgate: Acrabathane; Judas Maccabeus defeated the Idumeans there (1 Macc. 5:3).

The A. mentioned by Eusebius and St. Jerome, De situ et nominibus locorum hebr. (PL 23, 866), 9 miles east of Nablus, would correspond to the present-day village of 'Aqrabèh southeast of Nablus and seems to coincide with the toparchy Acrabatene which Pliny (Hist. Nat. V, 14) and Flavius Josephus (Bell. Iud. II, 20, 4; III, 3, 5; IV, 9, 3) place in Judea.

Gaetano M. Perrella

@incollection{ec1_acrabbim_ebr_ma_aleh_aqrabbim, author = {Perrella, Gaetano Maria}, title = {Acrabbim (Ebr. Ma'Aleh 'Aqrabbim «Salita degli Scorpioni»)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {I}, pages = {249}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1948}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/acrabbim-ebr-ma-aleh-aqrabbim-salita-degli-scorpioni} }

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