Hebrew word · H4506

מָנַ֫חַת

manachat

Manahath

'Half of the Menuhoth.' Manahath is a settlement name (1 Chr 8:6; probably the town 'Manocho' that the Greek Septuagint adds to the list of Judah's towns at Josh 15:59). It is usually located at el-Malḥa, southwest of Jerusalem. Read as an ordinary word, mǝnuḥôt would mean 'resting places'.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.36.23;

son of: Shobal (H7732);

brother of: Alvan (H5935), Ebal (H5858B), Shepho (H8195) and Onam (H0208)

Also named: ma.na.chat (מָנַ֫חַת "Manahathite" H4506)

§ Manahath = "rest"

son of Shobal and a descendant of Seir the Horite

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 2:52

Range of meaning

'Half of the Menuhoth.' Manahath is a settlement name (1 Chr 8:6; probably the town 'Manocho' that the Greek Septuagint adds to the list of Judah's towns at Josh 15:59). It is usually located at el-Malḥa, southwest of Jerusalem. Read as an ordinary word, mǝnuḥôt would mean 'resting places'.

Against the English

BSB, NASB and NIV give 'Manahathites' (matching v. 54); WEB and ESV keep 'Menuhoth', following the written Hebrew; KJV 'Manahethites'. The difference comes down to whether the translator smooths this verse to match verse 54.

Used elsewhere in the period

Verse 54 assigns 'half of the Manahathites' (חֲצִי הַמָּנַחְתִּי) to Salma, Shobal's brother. Separately, Gen 36:20–23 lists a Horite (pre-Edomite) chief named Shobal whose son is Manahath. The same pairing of names suggests the clans of southern Judah had links with Edomite and Horite groups.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 36:23 וּמָנַ֖חַת and Manahath

    These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

1 Chronicles · 4

  1. 1 Chronicles 1:40 וּמָנַ֛חַת and Manahath

    The sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah.

  2. 1 Chronicles 2:52 הַמְּנֻחֽוֹת׃ of <the> Menuchite[s]

    These were the descendants of Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim: Haroeh, half the Manahathites,

    Here: A clan named after the settlement of Manahath, near Jerusalem. As the vowels stand, the form looks like 'the resting places', but it is almost certainly a place-and-clan name, matching 'the Manahathites' in verse 54.

  3. 1 Chronicles 2:54 הַמָּנַחְתִּ֖י the Manahathite[s]

    The descendants of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab, half the Manahathites, the Zorites,

  4. 1 Chronicles 8:6 מָנָֽחַת׃ Manahath

    These were the descendants of Ehud who were the heads of the families living in Geba and were exiled to Manahath:

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