Hebrew word · H2042

הָרָר

meharei-

mountain

Mountain, hill; a longer, poetic form of the ordinary word har. Mountains stand for permanence and immovability ('everlasting hills', Gen 49:26). They are also places of refuge and strength, and in royal and temple poetry they can mean Zion, the seat of God and of the Davidic king.

Appears 12 times in 12 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

mountain, hill, hill country, mount

Another spelling of har (הַר ": mount" H2022)

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 Psalm 30:7

Range of meaning

Mountain, hill; a longer, poetic form of the ordinary word har. Mountains stand for permanence and immovability ('everlasting hills', Gen 49:26). They are also places of refuge and strength, and in royal and temple poetry they can mean Zion, the seat of God and of the Davidic king.

Against the English

Most English versions keep 'my mountain' (KJV, ESV, NASB, BSB, WEB). NIV makes it 'my royal mountain', taking the picture as the king's throne on Zion. NLT turns it into a simile, 'as secure as a mountain'. YLT keeps the Hebrew structure: strength established 'for my mountain'.

Used elsewhere in the period

The longer form appears in Gen 49:26, Deut 8:9, 33:15 and Ps 87:1 ('his foundation on the holy mountains'). Mountains as images of what cannot be shaken: Ps 46:2–3 and Ps 125:1–2 ('like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved'). The Septuagint reads 'my beauty/splendor' here, which points to a different Hebrew word, hadar.

From the study of Psalm 36:6

Range of meaning

'Mountains of El'. Hebrew can attach 'God' (El/Elohim) to a noun to mean the greatest or mightiest of its kind: 'cedars of God' = mighty cedars (Ps 80:10); 'a great city to God' = an exceedingly great city (Jonah 3:3); 'a prince of God' = a mighty prince (Gen 23:6). The phrase can also be literal: mountains that belong to God or were made by him.

Against the English

BSB 'highest mountains', NIV 'highest mountains', NLT 'mighty mountains' and KJV 'great mountains' take it as a superlative. ESV, NASB, WEB and YLT keep 'mountains of God'. The superlative reading is likely, but it drops the actual mention of God, and the literal reading keeps the hint that these are God's own mountains.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Ugaritic texts (Late Bronze Age Syria), the high god El lives on a cosmic mountain at the source of the rivers, 'amid the springs of the two deeps' (thmtm, the same root as tehom). This verse also puts 'mountains of El' next to 'the great deep', which may echo that older Canaanite picture of the world, here reclaimed for YHWH. That link is possible but not certain.

From the study of Psalm 50:10

Range of meaning

Hārār is a rare, fuller poetic form of har, "mountain, hill country" (Gen 49:26; Deut 8:9; Ps 36:7 "mountains of God"). ʾElef usually means "thousand". It can also mean a clan unit (Judg 6:15), and a related word ʾelef/ʾălāfîm means "cattle, oxen" (Ps 8:7; Prov 14:4; Deut 7:13).

Against the English

Most English versions say "a thousand hills". YLT says "hills of oxen", following the cattle sense of the consonants. Some modern translations (e.g. NJPS) say "mountains" instead of "hills", which is closer to hārār.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint (Ps 49:10) has "cattle on the mountains, and oxen" (κτήνη ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν καὶ βόες), which shows the translators read ʾlp as "oxen". Jerome's Latin translation from the Hebrew keeps "thousand" ("in montibus milium").

Where it appears

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 23:7 מֵֽהַרְרֵי־ from [the] mountains of

    And Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘put a curse on Jacob for me; come and denounce Israel!’

    Here: 'From the mountains of.' This is a longer, poetic form of the ordinary word for mountains (har). It echoes 'from Aram' in the line before.

Deuteronomy · 2

  1. Deuteronomy 8:9 וּמֵהֲרָרֶ֖יהָ and from hills its

    a land where you will eat food without scarcity, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and whose hills are ready to be mined for copper.

  2. Deuteronomy 33:15 הַרְרֵי־ [the] mountains of

    with the best of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills,

Psalms · 6

  1. Psalm 30:7 לְֽהַרְרִ֫י to mountain my

    O LORD, You favored me; You made my mountain stand strong. When You hid Your face, I was dismayed.

    Here: 'For / to my mountain': a picture of the speaker's settled, secure position, solid as a mountain. It is an unusual form, and the ancient Greek translation read it differently ('my splendor'). See the textual notes.

  2. Psalm 36:6 כְּֽהַרְרֵי־ [is] like [the] mountains of

    Your righteousness is like the highest mountains; Your judgments are like the deepest sea. O LORD, You preserve man and beast.

    Here: The prefix kə- means 'like'. Hārār is an older, poetic form of the usual word for mountain (har). It is joined to the next word: 'mountains of El'.

  3. Psalm 50:10 בְּהַרְרֵי־ on hills of

    for every beast of the forest is Mine—the cattle on a thousand hills.

    Here: A rare, fuller poetic form of the usual word for "mountain" (har). It points to the highland pastures where herds grazed, such as Bashan and Gilead.

  4. Psalm 76:4 מֵֽהַרְרֵי־ more than mountains of

    You are resplendent with light, more majestic than mountains filled with game.

  5. Psalm 87:1 בְּהַרְרֵי־ [is] among [the] mountains of

    A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A song. He has founded His city on the holy mountains.

    Here: 'On' (or 'among') plus the poetic, plural form of 'mountain'. It describes Zion's site as a sacred highland. The same phrase is used for 'the mountains of Zion' in Psalm 133:3.

  6. Psalm 133:3 הַרְרֵ֪י [the] mountains of

    It is like the dew of Hermon falling on the mountains of Zion. For there the LORD has bestowed the blessing of life forevermore.

    Here: An older, poetic form of the word 'mountain', here in the plural. 'The mountains of Zion' means the hills on which Jerusalem and the temple stood (compare Ps 87:1, 'the holy mountains').

Song of Songs · 1

  1. Song of Songs 4:8 מֵֽהַרְרֵ֖י from [the] mountains of

    Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon! Descend from the peak of Amana, from the summits of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards.

    Here: 'From the mountains of', using an old poetic form of the word for mountains (as in Ps 36:6, 'mountains of God'). It gives the line a grand, archaic sound.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 17:3 הֲרָרִי֙ mountain my

    O My mountain in the countryside, I will give over your wealth and all your treasures as plunder, because of the sin of your high places, within all your borders.

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 3:6 הַרְרֵי־ mountains of

    He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations; the ancient mountains crumbled; the perpetual hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting.

    Here: 'Mountains of', an older poetic form of the usual word for mountain. It fits the archaic, hymnic style of the chapter.

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