Hebrew word · H1174

בַּ֫עַל הָמוֹן

hamon

Baal-hamon

A place name found only here. Baʿal means 'owner, master, lord, husband' (and is also the name of a god, though nothing points to the god here). Hamon means 'roar, crowd, multitude, abundance, wealth' (Ps 37:16; Eccl 5:10 [5:9 Heb.]; Isa 60:5).

Appears 2 times in 1 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Baal-hamon = "lord (possessor) of abundance"

the site of Solomon's vineyard

Another spelling of cher.mon (חֶרְמוֹן "(Mount )Hermon" H2768)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Song of Songs 8:11

Range of meaning

A place name found only here. Baʿal means 'owner, master, lord, husband' (and is also the name of a god, though nothing points to the god here). Hamon means 'roar, crowd, multitude, abundance, wealth' (Ps 37:16; Eccl 5:10 [5:9 Heb.]; Isa 60:5).

Against the English

English versions transliterate it as 'Baal-hamon', which hides the meaning. Read as words, it says something like 'Owner of Abundance' or 'Master of a Multitude.'

Used elsewhere in the period

Its location is unknown. Some link it to Balamon/Belamon near Dothan (Judith 8:3, LXX Balamōn), but this is uncertain. The Vulgate translates the name instead of transliterating it: in ea quae habet populos, 'in the one that has peoples.' The Septuagint transliterates it as Beelamōn.

Where it appears

Song of Songs · 2

  1. Song of Songs 8:11 בְּבַ֣עַל הָמ֔וֹן at Baal-, Hamon

    Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased it to the tenants. For its fruit, each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver.

    Here: 'At Baal-…'. The common noun baʿal means 'owner, lord, master' (also 'husband'), so a Hebrew ear would hear 'At Owner-of-…' in the place name.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.