RAPHAIM, VALLEY of. – Fertile (Is. 17:5) plain southwest of Jerusalem, today called Baqā (in Heb. 'ēmeq rêphâ'im).
According to Jos. 15:8 ff., it extended northward toward Nephtoa (= Lifta). It appears in the course of the boundary between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, but south of it (Jos. 15:8; 18:16). Eusebius (translated by St. Jerome) therefore places it incorrectly in the tribe of Benjamin, north of Jerusalem. In the time of Saul, it was invaded by the Philistines (II Sam. 23:13-17; I Par. 11:15-19); David defeated them there twice (II Sam. 5:17-21; I Par. 14:8-12).
BIBL.: H. Vincent, Jérusalem. Recherches du topographie, d'archéologie et d'histoire, I, Paris 1912, pp. 118-24; L. Desnoyers, Histoire du peuple hébreu, II, ibid. 1930, pp. 160-65; F.-M. Abel, Géographie de la Palestine, I, ibid. 1933, p. 402; A. Médebielle, in La Ste Bible (ed. L. Pirot, 3), ibid. 1949, p. 486. Francesco Spadafora