ARBATTA

Region south of the Esdraelon Valley in the southwest corner of Galilee. When its inhabitants were threatened by non-Jewish forces of Ptolemais, Tyre, and Sidon (1 Macc 5:15), they sent an urgent letter requesting help from Judas Maccabeus. Judas dispatched his brother Simon who, with 3,000 men, rescued the Galileans “and led them into Judea with great rejoicing” (1 Macc 5:23).