Rimmon
RIMMON
Pomegranate,1. A town of Palestine, near the frontier of Edom, Jos 15:21,32 Zec 14:10, in the region assigned to the tribe of Simeon, Jos 19:7 1Ch 4:32 Neh 11:29 .2. A town on a high chalky hill, a few miles east of Bethel, Jdg 20:45-47 21:13. A village called Rummon still exists there.3. A city of Zebulun, assigned to the Levites, Jos 19:13 ; perhaps the same as Rimmono, 1Ch 6:77, which may be traced in the modern village Rimmaneh, northwest of mount Tabor.4. An unknown encampment of the Israelites in the desert, Num 33:19 .5. An idol of the Syrians, 2Ki 5:18 . See NAMAAN.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Rimmon
(Heb. Rimmon’, , a pomegranate, as often), the name of an idol, of a man, and also of several places; all probably having some allusion to the pomegranate, especially the localities, which were doubtless so named from the abundance of that fruit in the vicinity, although in modern times, owing to the neglect which has for ages prevailed under Turkish rule, that tree is comparatively scarce. SEE RIMMON METHOAR; SEE RIMMON PAREZ.
1. (Sept. .) A deity worshipped by the Syrians of Damascus, where there was a temple or house of Rimmon (2Ki 5:18). Traces of the name of this god appear also in the proper names Hadadrimmon and Tabrimmon, but its signification is doubtful. Serarius, quoted by Selden (De Dis Syris, 2, 10), refers it to the Heb. rimmon, a pomegranate, a fruit sacred to Venus, who is thus the deity worshipped under this title (comp. Pomona, from pomum). Ursinus (Arboretum Bibl. cap. 32, 7) explains Rimmon as the pomegranate, the emblem of the fertilizing principle of nature, the personified natura naturans, a symbol of frequent occurrence in the old religions (Bahr, Symbolik, 2, 122). If this be the true origin of the name, it presents us with a relic of the ancient tree worship of the East, which we know prevailed in Palestine. But Selden rejects this derivation, and proposes instead that Rimmon is from the root , ram, to be high, and signifies most high; like the Phoenician Elium, and the Hebrew
. Hesychius gives , . Clericus, Vitringa, Rosenmller, and Gesenius were of the same opinion. Movers (Phon. 1, 196, etc.) regards Rimmon as the abbreviated form of Hadadrimmon (as Peor for Baal-Peor), Hadad being the sun god of the Syrians. Combining this with the pomegranate, which was his symbol, Hadadrimmon would then be the sun god of the late summer, who ripens the pomegranate and other fruits, and, after infusing into them his productive power, dies, and is mourned with the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon (Zec 12:11).
2. (Sept. .) A Benjamite of Beeroth, and the father of Rechab and Baanah, the murderers of Ishbosheth (2Sa 4:2; 2Sa 4:5; 2Sa 4:9). B.C. ante 1053.
3. (Sept. v.r. , etc.) A town in the southern portion of Judah (Jos 15:32), allotted to Simeon (Jos 19:7; 1Ch 4:32 : in the former of these two passages it is inaccurately given in the A.V. as Remmon). In each of the above lists the name succeeds that of Ain, also one of the cities of Judah and Simeon. In the catalogue of the places reoccupied by the Jews after the return from Babylon (Neh 11:29) the two are joined, and inaccurately appear in the A.V. as En-Rimmon (q.v.). It is grouped with Ziklag and Beersheba, and must consequently have been situated near the southern border of the tribe. Rimmon would appear to have stood towards the western extremity of Simeon, and thus south of the plain of Philistia; for Joshua, in enumerating the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah, begins at the coast of Edom on the east, and Rimmon is the last of twenty-nine, and therefore must have been near the western extremity. The only other notice of it in the Bible is in the prophecies of Zechariah All the land shall be turned as a plain, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem (Zec 14:10). The land referred to is the kingdom of Judah; Geba lay on the northern and Rimmon on the southern border. Though both Eusebius and Jerome mention Rimmon, their notices are so confused, and even contradictory, that they evidently knew nothing of it. They appear to have confounded three towns of the same name. In one place Jerome calls it a town of Simeon or Judah; and yet he locates it fifteen miles north of Jerusalem. In the very next notice he writes, Remmon, in tribu Simeonis, vel Zabulon (Onomast. s.v. Remmon). Under the name Eremmon (, Onomast. s.v.) both Eusebius and Jerome appear to give a more accurate account of the site of this city. They state that it is a very large village (vicus proegrandis), sixteen miles south of Eleutheropolis. This was no doubt pretty nearly its true position (see Reland, Paloest. p. 973). About thirteen miles south of Eleutheropolis (now Beit Jibrin) is a ruined village called Khurbet Um er-Rumanim (Mother of Pomegranates), which in all probability marks the site, as it bears the name, of Rimmon of Simeon. On the top of the hill there are the foundations of an important square building of large well-dressed stones, and lower down there are the bases of three columns in situ (Quar. Statement of Pal. Explor. Fund, Jan, 1878, p. 13). A short distance (about a mile) south of it are two tells, both of which are covered with ruins; and between them, in the valley, is a copious fountain, filling a large ancient reservoir, which for miles around is the chief watering place of the Bedouin of this region (Van de Velde, Memoir, p. 344). As fountains are extremely rare in this southern district, it seems probable that this one may have given the name of Ain to the ancient town on the adjoining tell; and the proximity of Ain and Rimmon led to their being always grouped together.
4. (Heb. Rimmono’, , his pomegranate; Sept. .) A city of Zebulun belonging to the Merarite Levites (1Ch 6:77). There is great discrepancy between the list in which it occurs and the parallel catalogue of Joshua 21. The former contains two names in place of the four of the latter, and neither of them the same. But it is not impossible that DIMNAH (Jos 21:35) may have been originally Rimmon, as the D and R in Hebrew are notoriously easy to confound. At any rate there is no reason for supposing that Rimmono is not identical with Rimmon of Zebulun (19:13), in the A.V. Remmon-methoar (q.v.). The redundant letter was probably transferred, in copying, from the succeeding word at an early date, since all the MSS. appear to exhibit it, as does also the Targum of Joseph.
5. THE ROCK RIMMON (Heb. Sela ha-Rimmon, [also without the article] ; Sept. ; Josephus, ; Vulg. petra cujus vocabulum est Remmon; petra Remmon), a cliff (such seems rather the force of the Hebrew word sela) or inaccessible natural fastness, in which the six hundred Benjamites who escaped the slaughter of Gibeah took refuge, and maintained themselves for four months until released by the act of the general body of the tribes (Jdg 20:45; Jdg 20:47; Jdg 21:13). It is described as in the wilderness (midbar), that is, the wild, uncultivated (though not unproductive) country which lies on the east of the central highlands of Benjamin, on which Gibeah was situated between them and the Jordan valley. This is doubtless the Rimmon which Eusebius and Jerome mention, locating it fifteen miles north of Jerusalem (Onomast. s.v. Remmon). About ten miles north of Jerusalem, and nearly four east of Bethel, is a very conspicuous white limestone tell, rising like a cone above the neighboring hill tops, and overlooking the whole wilderness down to the Jordan valley. Upon it stands a large modern village called Rummon. This is unquestionably the Rock Rimmon on which the Benjamites took refuge. It is admirably adapted for the purpose. A deep and wild ravine cuts off the approach from the south, and others skirt its western and northern sides, rendering it a natural fortress of great strength. The sides of the tell are steep, bare, and rocky, and could be defended by a few resolute men against a host. The top is rounded, affording ample space for the refugees, while along the sides are some large caverns (Robinson, Bib. Res. 3, 290; Van de Velde, Memoir, p. 344; Porter, Handbook, p. 217; Schwarz, Palest. p. 129).
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Rimmon (2)
On the identification of this rock with that of Rummon, see the Quar. Statement of the Palest. Explor. Fund,” October 1881, page 247. The village Rumaneh is not described in the Memoirs accompanying the Ordnance Survey.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Rimmon (3)
SEE POMEGRANATE.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Rimmon
pomegranate. (1.) A man of Beeroth (2 Sam. 4:2), one of the four Gibeonite cities. (See Josh. 9:17.)
(2.) A Syrian idol, mentioned only in 2 Kings 5:18.
(3.) One of the “uttermost cities” of Judah, afterwards given to Simeon (Josh. 15:21, 32; 19:7; 1 Chr. 4:32). In Josh. 15:32 Ain and Rimmon are mentioned separately, but in 19:7 and 1 Chr. 4:32 (comp. Neh. 11:29) the two words are probably to be combined, as forming together the name of one place, Ain-Rimmon=the spring of the pomegranate. It has been identified with Um er-Rumamin, about 13 miles south-west of Hebron.
(4.) “Rock of,” to which the Benjamites fled (Judg. 20:45, 47; 21:13), and where they maintained themselves for four months after the fearful battle at Gibeah, in which they were almost exterminated, 600 only surviving out of about 27,000. It is the present village of Rummon, “on the very edge of the hill country, with a precipitous descent toward the Jordan valley,” supposed to be the site of Ai.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Rimmon
1. Father of Rechab and Bannah: 2Sa 4:2-9.(See RECHAB; BAANAH.)
2. An idol worshipped by the Syrians of Damascus (2Ki 5:18). The name appears in Hadad Rimmon. From rum, “the most high”; as El-ion (Selden, Gesenius, etc.). Others from Hebrew rimmon, a “pomegranate,” sacred to Venus; the fertilizing principle in nature; tree worship anciently having prevailed, a perverted relic of the tradition of Eden’s tree of life. Hadadrimmon may be the full name, from Hadad “the sun god” and Rimmon the pomegranate” ripened in the autumn.
3. A town of Zebulun (See REMMON.)
4. Of Judah in Simeon’s portion (Jos 15:32, where Jos 15:29 for Jos 15:36 is a copyist’s error); near the southern bound of Judah (Zec 14:10). Omit “and” between Ain and Rimmon, and make one name Ain-Rimmon or En-Rimmen, as Engedi (Neh 11:29). Um-er-rumamin, “mother of pomegranates,” four hours N. of Beersheba, corresponds (Robinson, Researches, iii. 8). From the neighboring hill region the spies brought pomegranates and figs (Num 13:23).
5. Rimmon “the rock”; where the 600 surviving Benjamites retreated after the slaughter of the tribe, and kept themselves four months (Jdg 20:45; Jdg 20:47; Jdg 21:13). Fifteen Roman miles N. of Jerusalem. Now the village Rummon stands on and round the top of a conical limestone mountain, and is visible in all directions (Robinson, 2:113). The houses cling to the sides as huge steps. On the southern side the mountain rises hundreds of feet from the ravine wady Mutyah, and on the western side it is isolated by a deep cross valley. It lies three miles E. of Bethel, and seven N.E. of Gibeah.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Rimmon
RIMMON.1. A Beerothite (2Sa 4:2; 2Sa 4:5; 2Sa 4:9). 2. The rock whither the remnants of the Benjamites fled (Jdg 20:45; Jdg 21:13). It has been identified with a lofty rock or conical chalky hill, visible in all directions, on the summit of which stands the village of Rummn, about 3 miles E. of Bethel. 3. A city in the south of Judah, towards the border of Edom, Jos 15:32; in Jos 19:7 counted to Simeon; In Zec 14:10 named as lying to the far south of Jerusalem. See, further, En-rimmon. 4. In Jos 19:13 one of the boundaries of Zebulun is given as Rimmon which stretcheth to the Nh (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] wrongly Remmonmethoar to Neah). In 1Ch 6:77 [Heb. 62] the name appears as Rimmono, and in Jos 21:35 as Rimmonah (for which, by a textual error, MT [Note: Massoretic Text.] has Dimnah). This Rimmon is the modern Rummneh, north of Nazareth.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Rimmon
RIMMON (god).Rimmon is the Hebraized form of Rammn, the Bab. [Note: Babylonian.] air-, weather-, and stormgod assimilated by popular etymology to the word for pomegranate. He is mentioned, however (in 2Ki 5:18), not as a Palestinian or Babylonian, but as a Syrian, deity, who was honoured as the chief god of Damascus. Elsewhere there are many Indications that the chief Araman divinity was called by that people not Rimmon or Rammn, but Hadad (wh. see). Rammn (meaning the thunderer) was, in fact, indigenous in Babylonia, where he played a great mythological and religious rle, in his twofold aspect of a beneficent deity, as the giver of rain, and of a maleficent, as the maker of storms and the wielder of the thunderbolt. His symbol was the axe and a bundle of lightning-darts. He was thus in some features the analogue of Zeus or Jupiter and Thor.
In Assyria, both the Aram [Note: ram Aramaic.] , and the Bab. [Note: Babylonian.] forms of the name were current (see Hadad). The currency of the latter among the Hebrews (as Rimmon) is to be attributed to the long Babylonian occupation of Palestine before Araman times. The same combination as the Assyrian is indicated in the Biblical Hadad-rimmon (wh. see).
J. F. McCurdy.
The emblem of Rammn was the bull, and the widespread cult of the air-god may have had something to do with nationalizing the worship of Jahweh as represented by that animal. Cf. also the name Tab-rimmon.
J. F. McCurdy.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Rimmon
We meet with this word frequently in the Scripture. A City of Zebulun was called by this name, (1Ch 6:77) Also a rock to which the Benjamites retreated, (Jdg 20:45) And there was an idol of the Syrians so called. (See 2Ki 5:18) The name signifies somewhat great or greatness, from Ramam.
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Rimmon (1)
rimon:
(1) The rock Rimmon ( , sela rimmon; , he petra Rhemmon): The place of refuge of the 600 surviving Benjamites of Gibeah (Jeba) who turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon, and abode in the rock of Rimmon four months (Jdg 20:45, Jdg 20:47; Jdg 21:13). Robinson’s identification (RB, I, 440) has been very generally accepted. He found a conical and very prominent hill some 6 miles North-Northeast of Jeba upon which stands a village called Rummon. This site was known to Eusebius and Jerome (OS 146 6; 287 98), who describe it as 15 Roman miles from Jerusalem. Another view, which would locate the place of refuge of the Benjamites in the Mugharet el jai, a large cavern on the south of the Wady Suweint, near Jeba, is strongly advocated by Rawnsley and Birch (see PEF, III, 137-48). The latter connects this again with 1Sa 14:2, where Saul, accompanied by his 600, abode in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree (Rimmon).
(2) (, rimmon; , Eremmon, or , Rhemmoth): A city in the Negeb, near the border of Edom, ascribed to Judah (Jos 15:32) and to Simeon (Jos 19:7; 1Ch 4:32, the King James Version Remmon). In Zec 14:10 it is mentioned as the extreme South of Judah – from Geba to Rimmon, South of Jerusalem. In the earlier references Rimmon occurs in close association with Ain (a spring), and in Neh 11:29, what is apparently the same place, Ain rimmon, is called En-rimmon (which see).
(3) (, rimmon (Jos 19:13), , rimmonah, in some Hebrew manuscripts , dimah (see DIMNAH) (Jos 21:35), and , rimmono (1Ch 6:77)): In the King James Version we have Remmon-methoar in Jos 19:13, but the Revised Version (British and American) translates the latter as which stretcheth. This was a city on the border of Zebulun (Jos 19:13) allotted to the Levites (Jos 21:35, Dimnah; 1Ch 6:77). The site is now the little village of Rummaneh on a low ridge South of the western end of the marshy plain el Battauf in Galilee; there are many rock-cut tombs and cisterns. It is about 4 miles North of el Mesh-hed, usually considered to be the site of Gath-hepher. See PEF, I, 363, Sh VI.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Rimmon (2)
(, rimmon, pomegranate; see RIMMON-PEREZ):
(1) A Syrian god. Naaman the Syrian leper after being cured is troubled over the fact that he will still have to bow down in the house of the Syrian god, Rimmon, when his master goes into the house to worship leaning on his hand (2Ki 5:18). Elisha answers him ambiguously: Go in peace. Judging from Naaman’s position and this incident, Rimmon must have been one of the leading gods of the Syrians worshipped in Damascus. He has been identified with Rammanu, the Assyrian god of wind, rain and storm. The name appears in the Syrian personal names HADADRIMMON and TABRIMMON (which see) and its meaning is dubious (ramamu, to thunder (?))
(2) A Benjamite of Beeroth, whose sons Baanah and Rechab assassinated Ish-bosheth (2Sa 4:2, 2Sa 4:5, 2Sa 4:9).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Rimmon
Rimmon, 1
Rimmon, the name of several places in Palestine, probably distinguished by the presence of pomegranate-trees.
1.A city of the tribe of Simeon, in the south of Palestine (Jos 15:32; Jos 19:7; 1Ch 4:32; Zec 14:10).
2.A town on a high conical chalky rock or peak, north-east of Gibeah and Michmash, near the desert (Jdg 20:45; Jdg 20:47; Jdg 21:13). The Onomasticon places it fifteen miles north of Jerusalem, which corresponds to the situation of this rock, which is still crowned by a village bearing the name of Rummon.
3.A city of Zebulon (Jos 19:13; 1Ch 6:77).
4.A station of the Israelites after leaving Sinai (Num 33:19).
Rimmon, 2
Rimmon, an idol worshipped by the Syrians (2Ki 5:18). As this name is found nowhere but in the Bible, and there only in the present text, nothing positive can be affirmed concerning the power it symbolized.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Rimmon
[Rim’mon]
1. City in Judah, but allotted to Simeon. Jos 15:32; 1Ch 4:32; Zec 14:10. It is called REMMON in Jos 19:7. Probably the same as EN-RIMMON.
2. Rock or cleft in Benjamin, where six hundred Benjamites took refuge. Jdg 20:45-47; Jdg 21:13. Identified with Rummon, 31 56′ N, 35 17′ E.
3. Merarite city in Zebulun. 1Ch 6:77. Identified with Remmaneh, 32 47′ N, 35 18′ E. See DIMNAH.
4. Father of Rechab and Baanah who slew Ish-bosheth. 2Sa 4:2-9.
5. Syrian idol at Damascus. 2Ki 5:18.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Rimmon
H7417
1. Father of the murderers of Ish-Bosheth
2Sa 4:2; 2Sa 4:5; 2Sa 4:9
2. A city south of Jerusalem:
– General references
Zec 14:10
– Allotted to Judah
Jos 15:32; Neh 11:29
– Afterward allotted to Simeon
Jos 19:7; 1Ch 4:32
– Called Remmon
Jos 19:7
– Called En-Rimmon
Neh 11:29
3. A city of Zebulun
1Ch 6:77
– Called Remmon-Methoar
Jos 19:13
4. A rock in Benjamin
Jdg 20:45; Jdg 20:47; Jdg 21:13
5. A Syrian idol
2Ki 5:18
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Rimmon
Rimmon (rm’mon), pomegranate. 1. The name of an idol worshipped in Damascus. 2Ki 5:18. See Naaman. 2. A Benjamite, father of the two men who slew Ish-bosheth. 2Sa 4:2; 2Sa 4:5; 2Sa 9:3. A town in Judah, afterward given to Simeon. Jos 15:21; Jos 15:32; Jos 19:7; 1Ch 4:32; Neh 11:29; Zec 14:10. 4. A Levitical city in Zebulun. 1Ch 6:77, R. V., Rimmono.
It is also called Remmon-methoar. Jos 19:13 A. V. It is identified with the present village Rummaneh, about six miles north of Nazareth. 5. A rock whither the 600 surviving Benjamites retreated after the slaughter of their tribe. Jdg 20:45; Jdg 20:47; Jdg 21:13.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Rimmon
Rim’mon.
1. A deity, worshipped by the Syrians of Damascus, where there was a temple or house of Rimmon. 2Ki 5:18. Rimmon is, perhaps, the abbreviated form of Hadad-rimmon, Hadad being the sun-god of the Syrians. Combining this with the pomegranate, which was his symbol, Hadad-rimmon would then be the sun-god of the late summer, who ripens the pomegranate and other fruits.
(pomegranate). The name of several towns.
2. A city of Zebulun, 1Ch 6:77; Neh 11:29, a Levitical city, the present Rummaneh, six miles north of Nazareth.
3. A town in the southern portion of Judah, Jos 15:3, allotted to Simeon, Jos 19:7; 1Ch 4:32, probably 13 miles southwest of Hebron.
4. Rimmon-parez, (pomegranate of the breach), the name of a march-station in the wilderness. Num 33:19-20. No place now known has been identified with it.
5. Rimmon, the Rock, a cliff or inaccessible natural fastness, in which the six hundred Benjamites, who escaped the slaughter of Gibeah took refuge. Jdg 20:45; Jdg 20:47; Jdg 21:13. In the wild country which lies on the east of the central highlands of Benjamin, the name is still found attached to a village perched on the summit of a conical chalky hill, visible in all directions, and commanding the whole country.
6. A Benjamite of Beeroth, the father of Rechab and Baanah, the murderers of Ish-bosheth. 2Sa 4:2; 2Sa 4:5; 2Sa 4:9.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Rimmon
See NAAMAN.