GE-HARASHIM

(Ge-harʹa·shim) [valley of craftsmen].

A valley named for the community of craftsmen living there. (1 Chron. 4:14) The community was ‘fathered’ or founded by Joab, though evidently not the Joab of David’s time. It was settled by Benjamites after the Babylonian exile. (Neh. 11:31, 35) The exact location of the site is uncertain. Some geographers tentatively locate it at Wadi esh-Shellal, a broad valley located a few miles SE of Jaffa; others prefer the identification with Sarafand el-Kharab to the SW of the former.—See ATROTH-BETH-JOAB.