A sacred city of Palestine, 9 1/4 miles north from Bethel and 11 1/2 miles south from Shechem, in the tribe of Ephraim (Josh. 18: 1; Judg. 18: 31). The tabernacle was here during the greater part of the period of the Judges, and the place continued to be the religious center of the nation (1 Sam. 1: 3) until after the loss of the Ark in the disastrous battle of Ebenezer. See also Josh. 22: 9, 12; Judg. 21: 12-23; 1 Sam. 1: 24; 1 Sam. 3: 21; 1 Sam. 4: 3-4; 1 Sam. 14: 3; Ps. 78: 60; 1 Kgs. 2: 27; 1 Kgs. 14: 2, 4; Jer. 7: 12-14; Jer. 26: 6; Jer. 41: 5.