Nebi Yakin – Where Abraham Argued with G-d

For those who love the Bible, the Southern Hebron Hills region is a goldmine. Many stories from the books of Joshua, Samuel and Kings took place in this region. Unfortunately most of these sites are virtually unknown to most tour guides and never make it in to the itineraries of even the the most devoted of Bible enthusiasts when they visit Israel. The bright side is that unlike the more frequented areas of Israel, when you visit the Southern Hebron Hills, you will feel as if you’ve been transported back in time to the days of Abraham, Joshua and David. Not a tour bus or gift shop in site! Nebi Yakin is most definitely one of those sites.

Abraham is visited by 3 Angels

Nebi Yakin is an ancient Islamic compound on the road to the Jewish town of Maale Hever near the Arab village of Bani Na’im. According to local tradition, this is where Abraham stood and argued with G-d about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah!

Genesis Chapter 18 tells of of 3 Angels who visit Abraham and tell him the wonderful news that his wife Sarah will bear him a child:

The LORD appeared to him (Abraham) by the Elonei of Mamre; he was sitting at the entrance of the tent at the heat of the day. Looking up, he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them and, bowing to the ground, he said, “My lords, if it please you, do not go on past your servant. Let a little water be brought; bathe your feet and recline under the tree. And let me fetch a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves; then go on—seeing that you have come your servant’s way.” They replied, “Do as you have said.”

Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quick, three seahs of choice flour! Knead and make cakes!” Then Abraham ran to the herd, took a calf, tender and choice, and gave it to a servant-boy, who hastened to prepare it. He took butter and milk and the calf that had been prepared and set these before them; and he waited on them under the tree as they ate. They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he replied, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will return to you next year, and your wife Sarah shall have a son!” Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, which was behind him.

The Torah continues to tell us how Sarah laughed, not believing that a woman of her advanced age could conceive and bear a child. G-d reminds her that nothing is impossible for Him. The Torah then continues to tell us about how the angels moved on towards their next mission of destroying Sodom and Gomorrah while saving Lot and his family from the destruction. Abraham is unaware of this plan but gets up to escort his guests on their way towards the Sodom region:

The men set out from there and looked down toward Sodom, Abraham walking with them to see them off.

Nebi Yakin

This is where geography becomes crucial to understand the Torah. The Angels met with Abraham in a place called ‘Elonei Mamre’ or ‘Oaks of Mamre’. It’s clear from other places in the Torah that Elonei Mamrei is adjacent to the city of Hebron. There is a traditional site in the Palestinian controlled side of Hebron called Elonei Mamre by Jews, Arabs and Christians alike. There is a church adjacent to it marking the place where Abraham had his camp near Hebron.

Some propose an alternative site not far away, but for our purposes, it doesn’t really matter. What matters to us is that you cannot see out towards the Judean desert towards Sodom from anywhere in Hebron. This means that when Abraham escorted the Angels he took them eastwards till a place where they could see down towards Sodom. Seemingly he wanted to escort his guests at least till the point where the way forward was apparent. This is where Nebi Yakin comes in!

Just out of curiosity I asked Google for walking directions from the Archeological site of Elonei Mamrei to Nebi Yakin and this is what I got. As you can see Google gives a bit of a circuitous route due to the modern roads and gives us a time of 3 hours and 8 minutes. I am assuming that if you walked straight it would be closer to 2.5 hours.

Nebi Yakin sits on a hilltop 937 meters above sea level south east of Hebron and overlooking the Judean desert towards the Dead Sea – Sodom area. It would make perfect sense for Abraham, not knowing the angelic nature of his guests and concerned for their well being to escort them along their way till this point where they could see their way to their destination! This ridge east of Hebron would be the first place that they would be able to see Sodom and Gomorrah.

To Argue with G-d

Now the LORD had said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham is to become a great and populous nation and all the nations of the earth are to bless themselves by him? For I have singled him out, that he may instruct his children and his posterity to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is just and right, in order that the LORD may bring about for Abraham what He has promised him.”

Then the LORD said, “The outrage of Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave! I will go down to see whether they have acted altogether according to the outcry that has reached Me; if not, I will take note.” The men went on from there to Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the LORD.

Abraham came forward and said, “Will You sweep away the innocent along with the guilty? What if there should be fifty innocent within the city; will You then wipe out the place and not forgive it for the sake of the innocent fifty who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that innocent and guilty fare alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” And the LORD answered, “If I find within the city of Sodom fifty innocent ones, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.” Abraham spoke up, saying, “Here I venture to speak to my Lord, I who am but dust and ashes: What if the fifty innocent should lack five? Will You destroy the whole city for want of the five?” And He answered, “I will not destroy if I find forty-five there.” But he spoke to Him again, and said, “What if forty should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not do it, for the sake of the forty.” And he said, “Let not my Lord be angry if I go on: What if thirty should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” And he said, “I venture again to speak to my Lord: What if twenty should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not destroy, for the sake of the twenty.” And he said, “Let not my Lord be angry if I speak but this last time: What if ten should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not destroy, for the sake of the ten.” When the LORD had finished speaking to Abraham, He departed; and Abraham returned to his place.

As we can see, the angels continue on their way towards Sodom while Abraham argues with G-d. That means that Abraham could see Sodom and Gomorrah as he plead their case before the Creator. According to local tradition, Nebi Yakin is that very place!

Chapter 19 tells us how the angels arrive in Sodom to save Lot and his family and how his wife turns back to look and becomes a pillar of Salt. Then this:

Next morning, Abraham hurried to the place where he had stood before the LORD, and, looking down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the Plain, he saw the smoke of the land rising like the smoke of a kiln. Thus it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain and annihilated the cities where Lot dwelt, God was mindful of Abraham and removed Lot from the midst of the upheaval.

At the end of the day of escorting the angels and arguing with G-d, Abraham returned home to Elonei Mamre. In the morning he got up early and ran to the site where the Angels had left him and where he plead for Sodom. The Torah now makes it crystal clear that from that place you can see “Sodom and Gomorrah and all the Land of the Plain”. Abraham was even able to see the smoke of the destruction rising to heaven.

But who is Yakin?!

In Arabic ‘Nebi’ means ‘prophet’ similar to ‘Navi’ in Hebrew. But there is no Jewish or Islamic prophet named Yakin so who is the Nebi Yakin mosque dedicated to? Since the local tradition associates it with the site where Abraham argued with G-d, you would expect it to be called “Nebi Ibrahim” or the like?!

The legend among the local Muslims goes that when the Prophet Abraham stood in this spot and witnessed the destruction he proclaimed, alHak alYakin! (الحق اليقين) “The certain truth!”. For this he became know as “Nebi Yakin” or “the certain Prophet”.

While this is a beautiful story, there may actually be another origin of this name “Yakin”. Joshua 15 list the cities conquered by the Tribe of Judah and groups them according to their geographical region. In this area we find the following list:

Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah: 10 towns, with their villages.

Or in the original Hebrew:

מָע֥וֹן ׀ כַּרְמֶ֖ל וָזִ֥יף וְיוּטָּֽה׃ וְיִזְרְעֶ֥אל וְיָקְדְעָ֖ם וְזָנֽוֹחַ. הַקַּ֖יִן גִּבְעָ֣ה וְתִמְנָ֑ה עָרִ֥ים עֶ֖שֶׂר וְחַצְרֵיהֶֽן

It’s an amazing fact of history that more often than not, the Arab names of places in the Land of Israel preserve a connection to the original Hebrew name of the site or to some story from the Hebrew scripture that happened in that area. Let’s take a look at a map of some of the Arab villages in the area.

Take a look at the places I highlighted in yellow. Except for Nebi Yakin, they are all current Arab villages. It should be clear that “Ma’in” is “Ma’on”, “Carmel is Carmel”, “Yata” is “Yuta” and “Zif” is “Zif”. (“Khirbet” simply means “ruin” in Arabic).

The only one left is “Nebi Yakin“. Is it possible that “Yakin” is simply a distortion of the “Kayin” mentioned in the list of 10 cities in this area?! It’s impossible to know for sure, but it’s certainly possible! Perhaps the Arabs arriving in the 7th century CE were told how this hilltop is where Abraham argued with G-d. When they asked the name of the place the local Jews told them “HaKayin”. With time it got distorted to “Yakin” and eventually the story became that Abraham proclaimed “alHak alYakin”.

What You’ll See at Nebi Yakin

When you ascend the hilltop of Nebi Yakin, you will find an active IDF guard tower observing the area. Wave at the soldiers and as long as they don’t protest you are free to walk around the grounds. You will find over a dozen working cisterns full of water. They are still used by local shepherds to water their flocks.

When you pass through the stone gate you’ll find an ancient mosque with the door open. Inside there is a Mihrab niche facing Mecca and an area of bedrock fenced off with green iron railing.

The fenced off bedrock contains two large footprints which are said to be none other than the footprints of Abraham.

Apparently he was stomping his feet very hard while arguing with G-d!