Hebrew word · H1667
גַּת־רִמּוֹן
gat-
Gath-rimmon
A place name meaning 'winepress of the pomegranate' (or 'of Rimmon'). It lay in Dan's original coastal allotment near Jaffa (Josh 19:45). Proposed sites include Tell Jerisheh (Tel Gerisa) on the Yarkon River and Tell Abu Zeitun, but neither is certain.
Appears 8 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
§ Gath-rimmon = "winepress of the pomegranate"
a city given out of the tribe of Dan to the Levites, situated on the plain of Philistia, apparently not far from Joppa
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 Joshua 21:24
- Range of meaning
A place name meaning 'winepress of the pomegranate' (or 'of Rimmon'). It lay in Dan's original coastal allotment near Jaffa (Josh 19:45). Proposed sites include Tell Jerisheh (Tel Gerisa) on the Yarkon River and Tell Abu Zeitun, but neither is certain.
- Against the English
Translations write it as 'Gath-rimmon' or 'Gath Rimmon'. None translates the meaning.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Josh 19:45; 21:24; 21:25 (probably a copying error there); 1 Chr 6:69. Possibly the Gath (Gitti / Gintu) of Egyptian lists from Thutmose III's time, which some scholars locate on the Sharon plain.
From the study of Joshua 21:25
- Range of meaning
A place name meaning "winepress of the pomegranate." Joshua 19:45 places it in Dan's territory, and verse 24 here lists it as one of Dan's Levitical cities.
- Against the English
All the major English versions follow the Hebrew and print "Gath-rimmon" here. Few readers notice that the same Danite town appears twice in a row, credited to two different tribes.
- Used elsewhere in the period
1 Chronicles 6:70 (Hebrew 6:55) gives the half-tribe of Manasseh's two cities as "Aner" and "Bileam." Bileam is the Ibleam of Joshua 17:11 and Judges 1:27, where it is listed right next to Taanach. The Septuagint of Joshua 21:25 also has a name other than Gath-rimmon.
From the study of Joshua 19:45
- Range of meaning
"Winepress of the pomegranate," or "Pomegranate Press." Gat (winepress) and rimmon (pomegranate) are both common in place names, and both point to farming: vines, orchards, pressing installations. The word rimmon is also the name of the Aramean storm god (2 Kings 5:18), but in place names it normally just means the fruit.
- Against the English
Transliterated in every version. Nothing is mistranslated, but English readers miss the plain farming meaning a Hebrew speaker would have heard.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Joshua 21:24 and 1 Chronicles 6:69 name it as a Levitical town given to the Kohathite clans (in Chronicles it is listed under Ephraim). A second "Gath-rimmon" in Manasseh (Joshua 21:25) is widely thought to be a copying error repeated from the line before; 1 Chronicles 6:70 has Bileam there. The site is debated. Tel Gerisa (Tell Jerisheh) on the Yarkon River, inside modern Tel Aviv, has often been proposed, and Tell Abu Zeitun is another candidate.
Where it appears
Joshua · 6
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Joshua 19:45 וְגַת־ רִמּֽוֹן׃ and Gath, Rimmon
Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon,
Here: "And" plus gat, "winepress," a very common element in place names. It points to a site where grapes (or other fruit) were pressed. It is the same word behind the Philistine city of Gath.
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Joshua 21:24 גַּת־ רִמּ֖וֹן Gath, Rimmon
Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.
Here: First half of the place name. Gat means 'winepress', a rock-cut vat for treading grapes. It is a common element in place names and is unrelated to the Philistine city of Gath.
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Joshua 21:25 גַּת־ רִמּ֖וֹן Gath, Rimmon
And from the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Taanach and Gath-rimmon—two cities, together with their pasturelands.
Here: The first half of a compound place name; gat means "winepress."
1 Chronicles · 2
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1 Chronicles 6:69 גַּת־ רִמּ֖וֹן Gath, Rimmon
Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon, together with their pasturelands.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.