Rama
    n 1: avatar of Vishnu whose name is synonymous with God; any of
         three incarnations: Ramachandra or Parashurama or Balarama;
         "in Hindu folklore Rama is the epitome of chivalry and
         courage and obedience to sacred law"

Rama
   (Matt. 2:18), the Greek form of Ramah. (1.) A city first
   mentioned in Josh. 18:25, near Gibeah of Benjamin. It was
   fortified by Baasha, king of Israel (1 Kings 15:17-22; 2 Chr.
   16:1-6). Asa, king of Judah, employed Benhadad the Syrian king
   to drive Baasha from this city (1 Kings 15:18, 20). Isaiah
   (10:29) refers to it, and also Jeremiah, who was once a prisoner
   there among the other captives of Jerusalem when it was taken by
   Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 39:8-12; 40:1). Rachel, whose tomb lies
   close to Bethlehem, is represented as weeping in Ramah (Jer.
   31:15) for her slaughtered children. This prophecy is
   illustrated and fulfilled in the re-awakening of Rachel's grief
   at the slaughter of the infants in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:18). It is
   identified with the modern village of er-Ram, between Gibeon and
   Beeroth, about 5 miles due north of Jerusalem. (See SAMUEL.)
   
     (2.) A town identified with Rameh, on the border of Asher,
   about 13 miles south-east of Tyre, "on a solitary hill in the
   midst of a basin of green fields" (Josh. 19:29).
   
     (3.) One of the "fenced cities" of Naphtali (Josh. 19:36), on
   a mountain slope, about seven and a half miles west-south-west
   of Safed, and 15 miles west of the north end of the Sea of
   Galilee, the present large and well-built village of Rameh.
   
     (4.) The same as Ramathaim-zophim (q.v.), a town of Mount
   Ephraim (1 Sam. 1:1, 19).
   
     (5.) The same as Ramoth-gilead (q.v.), 2 Kings 8:29; 2 Chr.
   22:6.