SAREPHTA (Heb. Sāréphath). - Formerly a city of Phoenicia, 15 km south of Sidon (v.). It has remained famous because the prophet Elijah, passing through there, multiplied flour and oil for a widow whose son he healed (1 Kings 17:9-24). The event was recalled by Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth to show the care taken by the pagans for the prophets, unlike Israel (Lk. 4:24-26). In the Byzantine period the city was aligned along the sea for almost 2 km, so as to be called Macracome ("long village").

The memory of Elijah was attached to a church that is currently replaced by a well of the Hadīr ("verdant"), a name that Muslims attribute to Elijah, while Christians often give it to St. George. In Crusader times it was an episcopal see and was renowned for its gardens. After the fall of the Latin Kingdom, the city was abandoned and the inhabitants moved to a hill to the east, founding the present village of Şarfand, which has 1,300 inhabitants. The memory of Elijah was always venerated by pilgrims, as it also is today, on the site of the ancient city.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: R. Dussaud, Topographie historique de la Syrie antique et médiévale, Paris 1927, p. 42; F.-M. Abel, Géographie de la Palestine, II, ibid. 1938, p. 449; A. Augustinovic, Nella casa della vedova di S., in La Terra Santa, 25 (1930), pp. 7-9.

Bellarmino Bagatti

@incollection{ec10_sarepta_ebr_sarephath_settanta, author = {Bagatti, Bellarmino}, title = {Sarepta (Ebr. Sáréphath; Settanta ΣΆΡΕΠΤΑ)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {X}, pages = {1923}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/sarepta-ebr-sarephath-settanta-sarepta} }

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Sarephta

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