Migdal Eder ( ''Miḡdal ‘Êḏer'' , "Tower of Eder") is a tower mentioned in the biblical book of Genesis 35:21, in the context of the death of

Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...

's wife,

Rachel Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her ...

. The biblical record locates it near the present-day city of

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital ...

So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), and Jacob set up a pillar at her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day. Israel acobjourneyed on, and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. (Gen 35:19-21 NRSV)

Many have attempted to identify the exact location of the tower, but early sources differ on the location.Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg, ''Christology of the Old Testament: and a commentary on the Messianic predictions'', vol 1 (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1871), 454-465

Connection to the Birth of the Jewish Messiah

One scholar, Alfred Edersheim, interpreted Micah 4:8, Micah 4:8 the only other biblical reference to the tower, as a prophecy indicating that the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashia ...

would be revealed from the "tower of the flock" (''Migdal Eder'') which he claimed is connected with the town of

, southeast of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

.Alfred Edersheim, ''The Life and Times of Jesus, the Messiah''

(1883). However, this interpretation is not shared by most modern scholars. The parallelism of Hebrew poetry seems to point in another direction: "The appositional structure of the terms 'watchtower' and 'Zion' seems to negate the possibility that the 'watchtower of the flock' was a tower in the vicinity of Bethlehem ( Genesis 35:19-21)."Thomas E. McComiskey, ''Hosea, Amos, Micah'', The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Revised Edition, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 346. Instead, the thought is that this verse communicates an image of God watching over his people from Mount Zion as a shepherd watches over his flock:

shares the symbolism of the flock and ''I AMs kingship, but it advances the argument by predicting that Mount Zion, to which the flock has been regathered, will become a tower guaranteeing its security and survival as it did in David's epoch. The picture of the flock in 4:6-7A fades into that of the tower, Mount Zion, in 4:7A-8. From his watchtower a shepherd overlooked his flock and protected it against violent animals and vile thieves.Bruce K. Waltke, ''A Commentary on Micah'', (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2007), 234

To support his view, Edersheim cited

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

Shekalim 7.4 and said it "leads to the conclusion, that the flocks, which pastured there, were destined for Temple-sacrifices, and, accordingly, that the shepherds, who watched over them, were not ordinary shepherds." Shekalim 7 is about how to deal with found items and, 7.4 reads:

An animal that was found between Jerusalem and Migdal Eder, or a similar distance in any direction, the males are onsideredburnt offerings. The females are onsideredpeace offerings. Rabbi Yehuda says, those which are fitting as a Pesach offering are onsideredPesach offerings if it is thirty days before the festival.

It referred to ''Migdal Eder'' as a distance marker to make a radius around Jerusalem, dictating how lost sheep within this radius could be used as offerings.Shek. vii. 4
/ref> Timothy J. Etherington, "Away in a Tower?

/ref> It does not say that sheep were pastured at the tower.

References

{{Reflist Book of Genesis Towers in Israel