Hebrew word · H2800

חֲרֹ֫שֶׁת

charoshet

Harosheth

A place name found only in Judges 4 (vv. 2, 13, 16). The meaning of "Charoshet" is disputed. Some connect it with ḥoresh, "wooded thicket," others with ḥarash, "to plough," which would make it cultivated land. Ha-Goyim means "the nations," i.e. non-Israelite peoples.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Harosheth = "woodland"

a city in the north of the land of Canaan on the west coast of the lake Merom

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 Judges 4:16

Range of meaning

A place name found only in Judges 4 (vv. 2, 13, 16). The meaning of "Charoshet" is disputed. Some connect it with ḥoresh, "wooded thicket," others with ḥarash, "to plough," which would make it cultivated land. Ha-Goyim means "the nations," i.e. non-Israelite peoples.

Against the English

BSB keeps the name as Harosheth-hagoyim. KJV and WEB translate the second part as "of the Gentiles," and YLT as "of the Goyim." "Gentiles" brings in a later religious category (see drift).

How it drifted

"Gentiles" comes from the Latin gentes (nations), by way of Jerome's Vulgate ("Aroseth gentium"). In later Jewish and Christian usage the word came to mean "non-Jews" as a religious group, and that is what English readers now hear.

Used elsewhere in the period

Not attested outside Judges 4. Compare "Galilee of the nations" (gelil ha-goyim, Isa 8:23 [9:1 Eng.]), another northern district named for its foreign population. Some Greek manuscripts of Judges appear to translate the name instead of spelling it out, as "forest/thicket of the nations" (drymos). This suggests early readers took it as a description of a district.

Where it appears

Judges · 3

  1. Judges 4:2 בַּחֲרֹ֥שֶׁת in Harosheth

    So the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his forces was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim.

    Here: A place name of uncertain location. The root may relate to wooded or cultivated land, or to craftwork. Many think it was a district rather than a single town, probably on the western side of the Jezreel Valley near the Kishon.

  2. Judges 4:13 מֵחֲרֹ֥שֶׁת from Harosheth

    he summoned all nine hundred of his iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the River Kishon.

  3. Judges 4:16 חֲרֹ֣שֶׁת Harosheth

    Then Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.

    Here: Sisera's headquarters (4:2, 4:13). Whether it names a town or a district is debated. The word may be related to terms for wooded or farmed land.

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