Hebrew word · H1864

דָּרוֹם

darom

south

Dārôm is a rare, mostly poetic and late word for 'south' (Deut 33:23; Job 37:17; often in Ezekiel 40-42). Ṣāfôn is the ordinary word for 'north.' Ṣāfôn can also be a mountain name in Canaanite myth (Zaphon), but that sense plays no part here.

Appears 17 times in 14 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

south

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 Ecclesiastes 11:3

Range of meaning

Dārôm is a rare, mostly poetic and late word for 'south' (Deut 33:23; Job 37:17; often in Ezekiel 40-42). Ṣāfôn is the ordinary word for 'north.' Ṣāfôn can also be a mountain name in Canaanite myth (Zaphon), but that sense plays no part here.

Against the English

Translations differ between 'to the south' and 'in the south' (YLT). Either way the pair works as a figure of speech meaning 'any direction at all.'

How it drifted

Allegorical readers sometimes gave the directions moral meaning (south = favorable, north = ominous). The Hebrew gives no such signal.

Used elsewhere in the period

For the pair of opposites, compare Eccl 1:6, where the wind 'goes to the south and turns to the north.' That is the same pairing and the same theme of endless natural cycles.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 33:23 וְדָר֖וֹם and [the] south

    Concerning Naphtali he said: “Naphtali is abounding with favor, full of the blessing of the LORD; he shall take possession of the sea and the south.”

Job · 1

  1. Job 37:17 מִדָּרֽוֹם׃ from [the] south

    You whose clothes get hot when the land lies hushed under the south wind,

Ecclesiastes · 2

  1. Ecclesiastes 1:6 דָּר֔וֹם [the] south

    The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course.

  2. Ecclesiastes 11:3 בַּדָּר֖וֹם at the south

    If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain upon the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie.

    Here: 'In/toward the south.' Dārôm is a rare, poetic word for south. With 'north' it covers every possible direction, meaning 'whichever way it goes.'

Ezekiel · 13

  1. Ezekiel 20:46 דָּר֑וֹם [the] south

    “Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against it, and prophesy against the forest of the Negev.

    Here: A second, rarer and more poetic word for "south". Ezekiel stacks it next to teman for emphasis. Where it comes from is uncertain.

  2. Ezekiel 40:24 הַדָּר֔וֹם הַדָּר֑וֹם the south

    Then he led me to the south side, and I saw a gateway facing south. He measured its side pillars and portico, and they had the same measurements as the others.

  3. Ezekiel 40:27 הַדָּר֑וֹם הַדָּר֖וֹם the south

    The inner court also had a gate facing south, and he measured the distance from gateway to gateway toward the south to be a hundred cubits.

  4. Ezekiel 40:28 הַדָּר֑וֹם הַדָּר֔וֹם the south

    Next he brought me into the inner court through the south gate, and he measured the south gate; it had the same measurements as the others.

  5. Ezekiel 40:44 הַדָּר֑וֹם the south

    Outside the inner gate, within the inner court, were two chambers, one beside the north gate and facing south, and another beside the south gate and facing north.

  6. Ezekiel 40:45 הַדָּר֔וֹם the south

    Then the man said to me: “The chamber that faces south is for the priests who keep charge of the temple,

  7. Ezekiel 41:11 לַדָּר֑וֹם [was] to the south

    The side rooms opened into this area, with one entrance on the north and another on the south. The open area was five cubits wide all around.

  8. Ezekiel 42:12 הַדָּר֔וֹם the south

    And corresponding to the doors of the chambers that were facing south, there was a door in front of the walkway that was parallel to the wall extending eastward.

  9. Ezekiel 42:13 הַדָּרוֹם֮ the south

    Then the man said to me, “The north and south chambers facing the temple courtyard are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the LORD will eat the most holy offerings. There they will place the most holy offerings—the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings—for the place is holy.

    Here: The matching block on the south side (42:10–12). The plan is laid out symmetrically.

  10. Ezekiel 42:18 הַדָּר֖וֹם the south

    He measured the south side to be five hundred cubits long.

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