McClintock Biblical Encyclopedia: Hormah

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McClintock Biblical Encyclopedia: Hormah


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(Heb. Chormah', çָøְîָä , devoted city, otherwise peak of a hill; Sept. ῾åñíÜ 5. r. occasionally ῾ÅñìÜè and ἀíÜèåìá ), a royal city of the Canaanites in the south of Palestine (Jos_12:14; 1Sa_30:30), near which the Israelites experienced a discomfiture from the Amalekites resident there, as they perversely attempted to enter Canaan by that route after the divine sentence of wandering (Num_14:45; Num_21:1-3; Deuteronomy 1, 44). Joshua afterwards besieged its king (Jos_15:30), and on its capture assigned the city to the tribe of Judah, but finally it was included in the territory given to Simeon (Jos_19:4; Jdg_1:17; 1Ch_4:30). It is elsewhere mentioned only in 1Ch_4:30. It was originally called ZEPHATH (Jdg_1:17), under which name it appears to have been again rebuilt and occupied by the Canaanites (see Bertheau, ad loc.; Hengstenberg, Pentat. 2, 220); whereas the name Hormah was probably given to the site by the Israelites in token of its demolition (see Num_21:3). Hence traces of the older name alone remain. SEE ZEPHATH.