MACHMAS (Hebr. Mikmáš and Mikmás; Gr. Μικμάς; Heb. Mühlmás). — A village 13 km north of Jerusalem, famous for the valiant deeds of Ionathan (q.v.) son of Saul against the Philistines who came to fight against Israel (1 Sam 13:5–7, 15 ff.; 14:1–23). After the exile it was repopulated with Benjaminites (Ezra 2:27; Neh 7:31).
M. appears in the prophetic description of Isaiah, who sees the Assyrian army marching on Jerusalem (Isa 10:28–29). Ionathan Maccabeus, having defeated the Greco-Syrian general Bacchides c. 158 BC, made it his administrative residence, dispensing justice (1 Macc 9:73). A Greek mosaic inscription, dated to about the 6th century, mentions a Valentinus who, with his wife and children, contributed to the building and adornment of the local church. Not far from M., to the east, on the slopes of the Wadi es-Suwejnit—whose name recalls the biblical Sheneh—where Ionathan fought, are the remains of a monastery commonly identified with that of Frimino, which has a Syriac inscription in its baptistery.