Hamath

anger; heat; a wall

Hamath

(fortress), the principal city of upper Syria, was situated in the valley of the Orontes, which it commanded from the low screen of hills which forms the water-shed between the source of the Orontes and Antioch. The Hamathites were a Hamitic race, and are included among the descendants of Canaan. (Genesis 10:18) Nothing appears of the power of Hamath until the time of David. (2 Samuel 8:9) Hamath seems clearly to have been included in the dominions of Solomon. (1 Kings 4:21-24) The "store-cities" which Solomon "built in Hamath," (2 Chronicles 8:4) were perhaps staples for trade. In the Assyrian inscriptions of the time of Ahab (B.C. 900) Hamath appears as a separate power, in alliance with the Syrians of Damascus, the Hittites and the Phoenicians. About three-quarters of a century later Jeroboam the Second "recovered Hamath." (2 Kings 14:28) Soon afterwards the Assyrians took it, (2 Kings 18:34; 19:13) etc., and from this time it ceased to be a place of much importance. Antiochus Epiphanes changed its name to Epiphaneia. The natives, however, called it Hamath even in St. Jerome's time, and its present name, Hamah , is but slightly altered from the ancient form.

Hamath

A celebrated city of Syria. Hamath, like Jerusalem and Damascus, is one of the few places in Syria and Palestine which have retained a certain degree of importance from the very earliest ages to the present time. The name occurs in Genesis 10:18, as the seat of a Canaanitish tribe; and it is often mentioned as the northern limits of Canaan in its widest extent, Numbers 13:21; Joshua 13:5; Jud 3:3. In David's time, Toi king of Hamath was his ally, 2 Samuel 8:9,10.

Burckhardt describes Hamath as "situated on both sides of the Orontes; a part of it is built on the declivity of a hill, and a part in the plain. The town is of considerable extent, and must contain at least 30,000 inhabitants. There are four bridges over the Orontes in the town. The river supplies the upper town with water by means of buckets fixed to high wheels, which empty themselves into stone canals, supported by lofty arches on a level with the upper part of the town. There are about a dozen of the wheels; the largest of them is at least seventy feet in diameter. The principal trade of Hamath is with the Arabs, who buy here their tent furniture and clothes. The government of Hamath comprises about one hundred and twenty inhabited villages, and seventy or eighty which have been abandoned. The western part of its territory is the granary of the northern Syria, though the harvest never yields more than ten for one, chiefly in consequence of the immense numbers of mice, which sometimes wholly destroy the crops." "The entering in of Hamath" is the northern part of the valley which leads up to it from Palestine, between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, Numbers 13:21; 1 Kings 1:53.

Fortress, the capital of one of the kingdoms of Upper Syria of the same name, on the Orontes, in the valley of Lebanon, at the northern boundary of Palestine (Numbers 13:21; 34:8), at the foot of Hermon (Joshua 13:5) towards Damascus (Zechariah 9:2; Jeremiah 49:23). It is called "Hamath the great" in Amos 6:2, and "Hamath-zobah" in 2 Chronicles 8:3.

Hamath, now Hamah, had an Aramaean population, but Hittite monuments discovered there show that it must have been at one time occupied by the Hittites. It was among the conquests of the Pharaoh Thothmes III. Its king, Tou or Toi, made alliance with David (2 Samuel 8:10), and in B.C. 740 Azariah formed a league with it against Assyria. It was, however, conquered by the Assyrians, and its nineteen districts placed under Assyrian governors. In B.C. 720 it revolted under a certain Yahu-bihdi, whose name, compounded with that of the God of Israel (Yahu), perhaps shows that he was of Jewish origin. But the revolt was suppressed, and the people of Hamath were transported to Samaria (2 Kings 17:24, 30), where they continued to worship their god Ashima. Hamah is beautifully situated on the Orontes, 32 miles north of Emesa, and 36 south of the ruins of Assamea.

The kingdom of Hamath comprehended the great plain lying on both banks of the Orontes from the fountain near Riblah to Assamea on the north, and from Lebanon on the west to the desert on the east. The "entrance of Hamath" (Numbers 34:8), which was the north boundary of Palestine, led from the west between the north end of Lebanon and the Nusairiyeh mountains.

HAMATH

ha'-math (chamath; Hemath, Haimath; Swete also has Hemath): The word signifies a defense or citadel, and such designation was very suitable for this chief royal city of the Hittites, situated between their northern and southern capitals, Carchemish and Kadesh, on a gigantic mound beside the Orontes. In Amos 6:2 it is named Great Hamath, but not necessarily to distinguish it from other places of the same name.

1. Early History:

The Hamathite is mentioned in Genesis 10:18 among the sons of Canaan, but in historic times the population, as the personal names testify, seems to have been for the most part Semitic. The ideal boundary of Israel reached the territory, but not the city of Hamath (Numbers 34:8 Joshua 13:5 Ezekiel 47:13-21). David entered into friendly relations with Toi, its king (2 Samuel 8:9), and Solomon erected store cities in the land of Hamath (2 Chronicles 8:4). In the days of Ahab we meet with it on the cuneiform inscriptions, under the name mat hamatti, and its king Irhuleni was a party to the alliance of the Hittites with Ben-hadad of Damascus and Ahab of Israel against Shalmaneser II; but this was broken up by the battle of Qarqar in 854 B.C., and Hamath became subject to Assyria. Jeroboam II attacked, partially destroyed, and held it for a short time (2 Kings 14:28 Amos 6:2). In 730 B.C., its king Eniilu paid tribute to Tiglath-pileser, but he divided its lands among his generals, and transported 1,223 of its inhabitants to Sura on the Tigris. In 720, Sargon "rooted out the land of Hamath and dyed the skin of Ilubi'idi (or Jau-bi'idi) its king, like wool" and colonized the country with 4,300 Assyrians, among whom was Deioces the Mede. A few years later Sennacherib also claims to have taken it (2 Kings 18:34; 2 Kings 19:13). In Isaiah 11:11, mention is made of Israelites in captivity at Hamath, and Hamathites were among the colonists settled in Samaria (2 Kings 17:24) by Esarhaddon in 675 B.C. Their special object of worship was Ashima, which, notwithstanding various conjectures, has not been identified.

2. Later History:

The Hamathite country is mentioned in 1 Maccabees 12:25 in connection with the movements of Demetrius and Jonathan. The Seleucids renamed it Epiphaneia (Josephus, Ant, I, vi, 2), and by this name it was known to the Greeks and the Romans, even appearing as Paphunya in Midrash Ber Rab chapter 37. Locally, however, the ancient name never disappeared, and since the Moslem conquest it has been known as Hama. Saladin's family ruled it for a century and a half, but after the death of Abul-fida in 1331 it sank into decay.

3. Modern Condition:

The position of Hama in a fruitful plain to the East of the Nusairiyeh Mountains, on the most frequented highway between Mesopotamia and Egypt, and on the new railway, gives it again, as in ancient times, a singular significance, and it is once more rising in importance. The modern town is built in four quarters around the ancient citadel-mound, and it has a population of at least 80,000. It is now noted for its gigantic irrigating wheels. Here, too, the Hittite inscriptions were first found and designated Hamathite.

4. Entering in of Hamath:

In connection with the northern boundary of Israel, "the entering in of Hamath" is frequently mentioned (Numbers 13:21 1 Kings 8:65, etc., the American Standard Revised Version "entrance"). It has been sought in the Orontes valley, between Antioch and Seleucia, and also at Wady Nahr el-Barid, leading down from Homs to the Mediterranean to the North of Tripoli. But from the point of view of Palestine, it must mean some part of the great valley of Coele-Syria (Biqa'a). It seems that instead of translating, we should read here a place-name-"Libo of Hamath"-and the presence of the ancient site of Libo (modern Leboue) 14 miles North-Northeast of Baalbek, at the head-waters of the Orontes, commanding the strategical point where the plain broadens out to the North and to the South, confirms us in this conjecture.

W. M. Christie

807. Ashima -- a god of Hamath
... a god of Hamath. Transliteration: Ashima Phonetic Spelling: (ash-ee-maw') Short
Definition: Ashima. ... Of foreign origin; Ashima, a deity of Hamath -- Ashima. ...
/hebrew/807.htm - 5k

1268. Berothah -- a place near Hamath
... 1267, 1268. Berothah. 1269 . a place near Hamath. Transliteration: Berothah
Phonetic Spelling: (bay-ro-thaw') Short Definition: Berothah. ...
/hebrew/1268.htm - 6k

8583. Tou -- a king of Hamath
Tou or Toi. 8582, 8583. Tou or Toi. 8584 . a king of Hamath. Transliteration:
Tou or Toi Phonetic Spelling: (to'-oo) Short Definition: Toi. ...
/hebrew/8583.htm - 6k

1913. Hadoram -- a son of Joktan and his desc., also son of the ...
... 1912, 1913. Hadoram. 1914 . a son of Joktan and his desc., also son
of the king of Hamath, perhaps also an official of Rehoboam. ...
/hebrew/1913.htm - 6k

7247. Riblah -- a city in Hamath, also one on NE border of Isr.
... Riblah. 7248 . a city in Hamath, also one on NE border of Isr. ... Word Origin of
uncertain derivation Definition a city in Hamath, also one on NE border of Isr. ...
/hebrew/7247.htm - 6k

2574. Chamath -- a place North of Damascus
... 2573, 2574. Chamath. 2575 . a place North of Damascus. Transliteration: Chamath
Phonetic Spelling: (kham-awth') Short Definition: Hamath. ... Hamath, Hemath. ...
/hebrew/2574.htm - 6k

2578. Chamath Tsobah -- a place North of Damascus
... a place North of Damascus. Transliteration: Chamath Tsobah Phonetic Spelling:
(kham-ath' tso-baw') Short Definition: Hamath-zobah. ... Hamath-Zobah. ...
/hebrew/2578.htm - 6k

2576. Chammoth Dor -- a Levitical city in Naphtali
... Hamath-Dor. From the plural of chammah and Dowr; hot springs of Dor; Chammath-Dor,
a place in Palestine -- Hamath-Dor. see HEBREW chammah. see HEBREW Dowr. ...
/hebrew/2576.htm - 6k

935. bo -- to come in, come, go in, go
... 1), indeed come (1), inserted (2), invade (1), invade when they came (1), invaded
(1), invades (1), keep on coming (1), laid (1), Lebo-hamath (6), led (3 ...
/hebrew/935.htm - 8k

The Nations of the North-East
... Hittite inscriptions have been found at Hamath on the Orontes. ... The rulers
of Hamath who made alliance with David bear Semitic names. ...
/.../sayce/early israel and the surrounding nations/chapter iv the nations of.htm

How David Brought under the Philistines, and the Moabites, and the ...
... Moabites, And The Kings Of Sophene And Of Damascus, And Of The Syrians As Also The
Idumeans, In War; And How He Made A League With The King Of Hamath; And Was ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 5 how david brought.htm

Afraid of Giants
... Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.21. So they went up, and searched
the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.22. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture k/afraid of giants.htm

The Sad Fate of a Guilty Nation
... plains of Jericho. Then they brought him up to Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon,
who was then at Riblah in the land of Hamath. And the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/sherman/the childrens bible/the sad fate of a.htm

For what is There that Sober Ears could Wish Changed in this ...
... in trusting to the mountain of Samaria, where idols were worshipped: "Pass ye unto
Calneh," he says, "and see, and from thence go ye to Hamath the great; then ...
/.../augustine/on christian doctrine in four books/chapter 17 for what is.htm

Examples of True Eloquence Drawn from the Epistles of Paul and the ...
... Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great; then go
down to Gath of the Philistines, and to all the best kingdoms of these: is ...
/.../on christian doctrine in four books /chapter 7 examples of true eloquence.htm

Deliverance from Assyria
... Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the
king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? ...
/.../white/the story of prophets and kings/chapter 30 deliverance from assyria.htm

Sargon of Assyria (722-705 BC )
... nalkunta I.; the princes of Malamir"The first encounter of Assyria and Elam, the
battle of Durilu (721 BC)"Revolt of Syria, Iaubidi of Hamath and Hannon of ...
/.../chapter iiisargon of assyria 722-705.htm

From Megiddo to Carchemish, 608-605.
... In three months Necoh had the youth in bonds at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, that
he might not reign in Jerusalem, and afterwards took him to Egypt. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/smith/jeremiah/1 from megiddo to carchemish.htm

The Northern Coasts of Galilee. Amanah. The Mountain of Snow.
... Amanah. The mountain of snow. This coast is described by Moses, Numbers 34:7: "From
the Great Sea to mount Hor: from mount Hor to the entrance of Hamath," &c. ...
/.../lightfoot/from the talmud and hebraica/chapter 66 the northern coasts.htm

Lebo-hamath (6 Occurrences)
Lebo-hamath. Lebo, Lebo-hamath. Lebonah . Multi-Version Concordance
Lebo-hamath (6 Occurrences). Numbers 13:21 So they ...
/l/lebo-hamath.htm - 8k

Lebo (12 Occurrences)
... Lebo (12 Occurrences). Numbers 13:21 So they went up, and spied out the land from
the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, to the entrance of Hamath. (See NAS NIV). ...
/l/lebo.htm - 9k

Arpad (6 Occurrences)
... (Isaiah 10:9; 36:19; 37:13), also Arphad, support, a Syrian city near Hamath, along
with which it ... On every occasion Arpad is mentioned with Hamath. SF Hunter. ...
/a/arpad.htm - 10k

Sepharvaim (6 Occurrences)
... that Sepharvaim was a Babylonian town-the composition of the list, indeed, points
the other way, for the name comes after Ava and Hamath, implying that it lay ...
/s/sepharvaim.htm - 12k

Riblah (12 Occurrences)
... rib'-la (ribhlah; Rheblatha, with variants): (1) Riblah in the land of Hamath first
appears in history in 608 BC Here Pharaoh-necoh, after defeating Josiah at ...
/r/riblah.htm - 14k

Ivvah (3 Occurrences)
... Ivvah was a city apparently conquered by the Assyrians, and is mentioned by them,
in the verses quoted, with Hamath and Arpad, Sepharvaim and Hena. ...
/i/ivvah.htm - 9k

Zobah (15 Occurrences)
... Toi, king of Hamath, who had suffered in war with Hadadezer, now sent his son on
an embassy with greetings and gifts to David (2 Samuel 8:3-12 1 Chronicles 18:3 ...
/z/zobah.htm - 15k

Sepharva'im (4 Occurrences)
... Sepharva'im (4 Occurrences). 2 Kings 18:34 Where are the gods of Hamath, and
of Arpad? ... Isaiah 36:19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? ...
/s/sepharva'im.htm - 7k

Hethlon (2 Occurrences)
... 47:15; 48:1) is probably the pass at the end of Lebanon from the Mediterranean to
the great plain of Hamath (qv), or the "entrance of Hamath.". Int. ...
/h/hethlon.htm - 8k

Northern (18 Occurrences)
... Ezekiel 47:17 And the border from the sea hath been Hazar-Enan, the border of Damascus,
and Zaphon at the north, and the border of Hamath: and 'this is' the ...
/n/northern.htm - 12k

What happened to the lost tribes of Israel? | GotQuestions.org

Who were the Samaritans? | GotQuestions.org

Who were the Arameans? | GotQuestions.org

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus