Jericho

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

Concise Bible Dictionary:

The strongly fortified city that was the first to be taken by Israel when entering the land. The spies had been sheltered there by Rahab the harlot, from whom they heard that the terror of Israel had fallen upon the inhabitants. The city and all therein was accursed, and was to be utterly destroyed, except the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, which were consecrated to the Lord: typical of the power of Satan in the world that stops the progress of the Christian: he must count it all as accursed, though God may use such things by consecrating them to Himself.
The capture of the city was altogether of God, after it had been compassed six days by the people, accompanied by the ark and the priests blowing the trumpets: in that way they proclaimed the rights of the Lord of all the earth to the land, while Jericho was the fortress of the enemy. On the seventh day, after being compassed seven times (double type of perfection) the priests blowing their trumpets, the people shouted, and the walls of the city fell down. The city was destroyed and all that had life was put to the sword, except Rahab and those she had with her sheltered under the scarlet line (Josh. 2:1-221And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there. 2And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. 3And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. 4And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: 5And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. 6But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. 7And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate. 8And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; 9And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. 10For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 11And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. 12Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness, that ye will also show kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token: 13And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. 14And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. 15Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. 16And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way. 17And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear. 18Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee. 19And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. 20And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. 21And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window. 22And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not. (Joshua 2:1‑22); Josh. 6; Heb. 11:3030By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. (Hebrews 11:30)). A curse was pronounced upon the man who should re-build the city. This was verified when Hiel built it (1 Kings 16:3434In his days did Hiel the Beth-elite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun. (1 Kings 16:34)).
Jericho was allotted to Benjamin (Josh. 18:2121Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and the valley of Keziz, (Joshua 18:21)); but later was taken possession of by Eglon the king of Moab. It is designated “the city of palm trees” (Deut. 34:33And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. (Deuteronomy 34:3); Judg. 1:1616And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people. (Judges 1:16); Judg. 3:1313And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. (Judges 3:13); 2 Chron. 28:1515And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria. (2 Chronicles 28:15)). Afterward “sons of the prophets” dwelt there: they said that the situation of the city was “pleasant,” but the water was bad. It was Elisha’s first miracle, he cast in salt and the water was healed. It was the ministration of the heavenly blessing in the place of the curse (2 Kings 2:18-2218And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not? 19And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. 20And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. 21And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. 22So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake. (2 Kings 2:18‑22)). Some who returned from exile are described as “children of Jericho” (Ezra 2:3434The children of Jericho, three hundred forty and five. (Ezra 2:34); Neh. 7:3636The children of Jericho, three hundred forty and five. (Nehemiah 7:36)).
The Ain es Sultan, 31° 52' N, 35° 27' E, is held to be the fountain healed by Elisha, and the ruins around mark the site of the ancient city, five miles from the Jordan; but this is not the site of the Jericho of New Testament times, which may or may not agree with the situation of the miserable village of Eriha, which is sometimes called Jericho: it is a mile and a half S.E. of the ancient site.

Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew Words:

Number:
3405 (find all occurrences in KJV Bible)
Transliteration:
Yriychow
Phonic:
yer-ee-kho’
Meaning:
or Yrechow {yer-ay-kho'}; or variation (1 Kings 16:34) Yriychoh {yer-ee-kho'}; perhaps from 3394; its month; or else from 7306; fragrant; Jericho or Jerecho, a place in Palestine
KJV Usage:
Jericho

Jackson’s Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names:

let him smell it : place of fragrance: his fragrance (1. Kings 16:34)

Potts’ Bible Proper Names:

Constant pleasant odor; place of fragrance:―place in Palestine, Num. 22:1. {Odor suavis continuus}