Hebrew word · H3362

יׇקְנְעָם

yakene'am

Jokneam

A proper name for a town. Its meaning is uncertain. Suggestions include a sentence-name built around ʿam ("people" or "kinsman"), but no proposal is secure.

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

What it means

Jokneam = "the people lament"

a city of Canaan conquered by Joshua and in the territory of Zebulun but allotted to the Merarite Levites and located Mount Carmel

Also named: yoq.me.am (יׇקְמְעָם "Jokmeam" H3361)

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 12:22

Range of meaning

A proper name for a town. Its meaning is uncertain. Suggestions include a sentence-name built around ʿam ("people" or "kinsman"), but no proposal is secure.

Against the English

KJV and YLT spell it "Jokneam." Modern Israeli and archaeological writing uses "Yokneam," which is the same place.

Used elsewhere in the period

It is identified with Tel Yoqneʿam, a mound guarding a pass from the Jezreel Valley through the Carmel range to the coastal plain. The site was excavated from 1977 to 1988. It is commonly identified with an entry in Thutmose III's list of Canaanite towns (15th century BC). In the Bible it marks Zebulun's border (Josh 19:11) and is a Levitical town (Josh 21:34). 1 Kgs 4:12 has "Jokmeam" in the same district, which may be a variant form of the name.

Where it appears

Joshua · 3

  1. Joshua 12:22 יָקְנֳעָ֥ם Jokneam

    the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one;

    Here: A town at the northwest edge of the Jezreel Valley, at the foot of the Carmel ridge. The name's meaning is uncertain.

  2. Joshua 19:11 יָקְנְעָֽם׃ Jokneam

    It went up westward to Maralah, reached Dabbesheth, and met the brook east of Jokneam.

    Here: Jokneam: a known Canaanite royal town at the northwest corner of the Jezreel Valley, at the foot of Mount Carmel (Tel Yoqneam). It marks the western end of this stretch of Zebulun's southern border.

  3. Joshua 21:34 יָקְנְעָ֖ם Jokneam

    This is what the Merarite clan (the rest of the Levites) were given: From the tribe of Zebulun they were given Jokneam, Kartah,

    Here: Jokneam was a former Canaanite royal city "in Carmel" (Joshua 12:22), on Zebulun's border (19:11). It is generally identified with Tel Yoqneʿam, which guarded a pass from the coastal plain into the Jezreel Valley.

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