Juttah

Juttah - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

Extended, a Levitical city in the mountains or hill-country of Judah (Josh. 15:55; 21:16). Its modern name is Yutta, a place about 5 1/2 miles south of Hebron. It is supposed to have been the residence of Zacharias and Elisabeth, and the birthplace of John the Baptist, and on this account is annually visited by thousands of pilgrims belonging to the Greek Church (Luke 1:39). (See [330]MARY.)

jut'-a, joo'-ta (yuTTah, Jos 21:16; Septuagint Tanu; and in Jos 15:55 the King James Version, Septuagint Itan, A, Ietta); ju'-ta (~yaTah], Jos 15:55): A town in the hill country of Judah, mentioned with Maon, Carmel and Ziph; a Levitical city (Jos 21:16). In some versions of Septuagint it occurs (Iota) in 1Ch 6:57. In the Eusebius, Onomasticon (266 49; 133 10) a large village called "Juttah" is described as 18 Roman miles from Eleutheropolis. This agrees with the position of YuTTa, a large and prosperous Moslem village, 3,740 ft. above sea-level, 5 1/3 miles South of Hebron and 15 1/2 miles from Beit Jebrin (Eleutheropolis). There are many rock-cut tombs and ancient winepresses all around the village.

Reland (Pal, 870) suggested (and many others have followed him) that the ... polis Iouda, translated "city of Judah," in Lu 1:39, should be polis Iouta, "the city Yuta." The translation "city of Judah" is suspicious, because Iouda is without the article, which is usually put before the name of a district; the interchange of "t" and "d" is a very common one. Dr. Paterson, resident many years in Hebron, states that there is a local Moslem tradition in the district that Yutta was the home of John the Baptist. For YuTTa see PEF, III, 310, Sh XXI.

E. W. G. Masterman