Hebrew word · H2540

חַמּוֹן

chamon

Hammon

A place name probably from ḥ-m-m, 'to be hot', so perhaps 'warm (springs)'. Strong's H2540 covers two towns: one in Asher (Joshua 19:28) and this one in Naphtali.

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

What it means

Hammon = "warm springs"

a town in Naphtali allotted to the Levites; also called 'Hammath' and 'Hammoth-dor'

Another name of cham.mat (חַמַּת "Hammath" H2575A)

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 1 Chronicles 6:76

Range of meaning

A place name probably from ḥ-m-m, 'to be hot', so perhaps 'warm (springs)'. Strong's H2540 covers two towns: one in Asher (Joshua 19:28) and this one in Naphtali.

Against the English

English transliterates it as 'Hammon'. Readers comparing it with Joshua 21:32 ('Hammoth-dor') may think the two lists contradict each other.

Used elsewhere in the period

Joshua 19:35 lists Hammath among Naphtali's fortified towns. Joshua 21:32 has Hammoth-dor as the Levitical town. The usual identification is Hammath near Tiberias (Hammat Tiberias), with its hot springs. The place was famous later for its synagogue mosaic floor.

Where it appears

Joshua · 1

  1. Joshua 19:28 וְחַמּ֣וֹן and Hammon

    It went on to Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as Greater Sidon.

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 6:76 חַמּ֖וֹן Hammon

    And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee, Hammon, and Kiriathaim, together with their pasturelands.

    Here: Probably from the root for 'hot'. It is most likely the same place as Hammath / Hammoth-dor in Naphtali (Joshua 19:35; 21:32), the hot springs on the shore south of later Tiberias. It is a different place from the Hammon in Asher (Joshua 19:28).

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