The city of woods, Josh. xv. 9. so called from Jahar, a forest.
Kir’jath-je’arim. (the city of forests). First mentioned as one of the four cities of the Gibeonites, Jos 9:17, it next occurs as one of the landmarks of the northern boundary of Judah, Jos 15:9, and as the point at which the western and southern boundaries of Benjamin coincided, Jos 18:14-15, and in the last two passages, we find that it bore another, perhaps earlier, name -- that of the great Canaanite deity Baal, namely Baalah and Kirjath-Baal.
At this place, the Ark remained for twenty years. 1Sa 7:2. At the close of that time, Kirjath-jearim lost its sacred treasure, on its removal by David to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 1Ch 13:5-6; 2Ch 1:4; 2Sa 6:2 etc. To Eusebius and Jerome, it appears to have been well known. They describe it as a village at the ninth mile between Jerusalem and Diospolis (Lydda). These requirements are exactly fulfilled in the small modern village of Kuriet-el-Enab -- now usually known as Abu Gosh, from the robber chief whose headquarters it was -- on the road from Jaffa and Jerusalem.
("city of forests".) Psa 132:6, "we (David and his people) when in Ephratah heard of the ark" as a hearsay, not as the religious center of the nation as when it was in Shiloh; "we found it in the fields of the wood," i.e. in Kirjath Jearim, the forest town, where it lay neglected under Saul after its restoration by the Philistines (1Sa 6:21; 1Sa 7:1; 2Sa 6:2-3-4). David brought it up to Zion. Its other names BAALAH, BAALE of Judah, KIRJATH BAAL, betray its original connection with Baal worship (Jos 15:9; Jos 15:60; Jos 18:14; 1Ch 13:3; 1Ch 13:6).
Contracted into Kirjatharim (Ezr 2:25). Called simply Kirjath and assigned to Benjamin (Jos 18:28). Now Kuryet el Enab, "the city of grapes," on the right bank of a long wady, with a fine old church, stone houses grouped round two or three castle-like houses, the hereditary residences of the family of Abu Ghaush, a marauding chief, amidst olive groves and terraced slopes. But Chaplin identifies Kirjath Jearim with the village Soba, Mount Seir on Judah’s border being Bath el Saghir. Caleb’s son Shobal was the father or founder over again of Kirjath Jearim (1Ch 2:50-53). It was one of the four Gibeonite cities which obtained peace with Israel by deceit (Jos 9:17).
Kirjath-jearim (kir’jath-jç’a-rĭm), R. V., kiriath-jearim, the city of woods. One of the four cities of the Gibeonites, Jos 9:17, situated on the border of Judah and Benjamin, Jos 15:9; Jos 18:14-15, but belonging to Judah, Jos 15:60; Jdg 18:12; was also called Baalah, Jos 15:9-10, or Baale of Judah, 2Sa 6:2, or Kirjath-baal. Hither the ark was brought from Beth-shemesh, 1Sa 6:21; 1Sa 7:1-2, and here it remained until it was removed by David. 1Ch 13:5; 2Ch 1:4. The prophet Urijah, who was put to death by Jehoiakim, Jer 26:20, was born here, and after the captivity the people of the city returned in numbers to it. Neh 7:29.
("city of forests"):
By: Emil G. Hirsch, Bernhard Pick
1. A descendant of Caleb, the son of Hur (I Chron. ii. 50, 52, 53). 2. One of the towns of the Gibeonites (Josh. ix. 17), which belonged to the tribe of Judah (ib. xv. 60; Judges xviii. 12), on the border of Benjamin (Josh. xviii. 15; I Chron. ii. 50), to which it was finally assigned (ib. xviii. 28). At Kirjathjearim the Ark was kept before its removal by David to Jerusalem, having been brought from Beth-shemesh after its return from the land of the Philistines (I Sam. vii; I Chron. xiii.). After the Captivity Kirjath-jearim was repeopled (Ezra ii. 25; Neh. vii. 29). Its site appears to have been not far from Beeroth (Ezra ii. 25). The prophet Urijah, the son of Shemaiah, put to death by King Jehoiakim, was a native of Kirjath-jearim (Jer. xxvi. 20 et seq.). Other names for the same place are "Baalah" (Josh. xv. 9, 10; I Chron. xiii. 6) and "Kirjath-baal" (Josh. xv. 60).