Hebrew word · H2767

חׇרְמָה

charemah

Hormah

A proper name built on the root ḥ-r-m. As a verb this root means 'to devote something wholly to God, usually by destroying it'. As a noun, ḥerem, it means 'a thing (or people) devoted in this way'. So the name sounds like 'Devoted-place' or 'Destruction'.

Appears 9 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Hormah = "devotion"

a town of the Canaanites, conquered by Joshua, allotted to Judah, and located in the south of Judah

Another name of tse.phat (צְפַ֑ת "Zephath" H6857)

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 15:30

Range of meaning

A proper name built on the root ḥ-r-m. As a verb this root means 'to devote something wholly to God, usually by destroying it'. As a noun, ḥerem, it means 'a thing (or people) devoted in this way'. So the name sounds like 'Devoted-place' or 'Destruction'.

Against the English

Every English version simply transliterates it as 'Hormah'. That is correct for a place name, but the English reader loses what any Hebrew hearer caught at once: the name itself is a memory of a ḥerem vow.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 14:45: Israel is beaten back 'as far as Hormah' after the failed attempt to enter the land. Numbers 21:1–3: Israel vows to devote the cities of the king of Arad to destruction and names the place Hormah. Judges 1:17: Judah and Simeon destroy Zephath and rename it Hormah. Joshua 12:14 lists a 'king of Hormah'. Joshua 19:4 and 1 Chronicles 4:30 assign it to Simeon. In 1 Samuel 30:30 David sends spoil there. Proposed sites include Tel Masos (Khirbet el-Meshash), Tel Ḥalif, Tel Ira and Tel Malḥata east of Beersheba. None is certain.

From the study of Numbers 14:45

Range of meaning

A town in the southern Negev, assigned to Judah/Simeon (Josh 15:30; 19:4) and listed among conquered royal cities (Josh 12:14). The name comes from the root ḥ-r-m, 'to devote to destruction' (ḥērem, the 'ban', meaning a war in which the enemy and its goods were handed over wholly to the deity). So Hormah means roughly 'Devoted/Destroyed place.'

Against the English

English versions simply transliterate 'Hormah,' which is correct for a place name. But the English reader cannot hear what a Hebrew ear heard: 'they crushed them all the way to Destruction.' The Hebrew also has the article ('the Hormah'), which can happen with place names whose meaning is still felt.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 21:1–3: Israel vows to devote the cities of the king of Arad, does so, and 'the name of the place was called Hormah.' Judges 1:17: Judah and Simeon destroy Zephath and call it Hormah. The Mesha Stele (9th c. BC Moab) uses the same root for devoting a town's population to the god Kemosh, which shows the practice and the word were shared in the region.

Where it appears

Numbers · 2

  1. Numbers 14:45 הַֽחָרְמָֽה׃ פ <the> Hormah

    Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them all the way to Hormah.

    Here: 'The Hormah,' a town in the Negev. Its name comes from the root ḥ-r-m, 'to devote to destruction,' so to a Hebrew ear the flight ends at a place called something like 'Destruction.' The same place later becomes the site of Israel's first victory (21:1–3).

  2. Numbers 21:3 חָרְמָֽה׃ פ Hormah

    And the LORD heard Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction; so they named the place Hormah.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 1:44 חָרְמָֽה׃ Hormah

    Then the Amorites who lived in the hills came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Seir all the way to Hormah.

Joshua · 3

  1. Joshua 12:14 חָרְמָה֙ Hormah

    the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;

  2. Joshua 15:30 וְחָרְמָֽה׃ and Hormah

    Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah,

    Here: A town well known from Israel's wilderness and conquest stories. Its name comes from the root ḥ-r-m, 'to devote to destruction'. An Israelite hearer would remember that the place was named for a vow of total destruction (Numbers 21:1–3; Judges 1:17).

  3. Joshua 19:4 וְחָרְמָֽה׃ and Hormah

    Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah,

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 1:17 חָרְמָֽה׃ Hormah

    Then the men of Judah went with their brothers the Simeonites, attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and devoted the city to destruction. So it was called Hormah.

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 30:30 בְּחָרְמָ֛ה [were] in Hormah

    to those in Hormah, Bor-ashan, and Athach;

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 4:30 וּבְחָרְמָ֖ה and in Hormah

    Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag,

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