Hebrew word · H4584

מָעוֹן

ma'on

Maon

As an ordinary noun: dwelling, abode, lair, refuge. It is used of God's heavenly dwelling (Deut 26:15; Ps 68:5), of God as Israel's 'dwelling place' (Ps 90:1), and of a jackals' den (Jer 9:11).

Appears 8 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Maon or Maonites = "habitation"

a city of Judah located 8 miles south of Hebron

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 2:45

Range of meaning

As an ordinary noun: dwelling, abode, lair, refuge. It is used of God's heavenly dwelling (Deut 26:15; Ps 68:5), of God as Israel's 'dwelling place' (Ps 90:1), and of a jackals' den (Jer 9:11). As a name: a town in the Judean hills, Khirbet Ma'in, about 13 km (8 miles) south of Hebron, and the wilderness around it.

Against the English

English versions simply transliterate it as 'Maon', which is correct for a name, though the reader loses the sense 'dwelling'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Josh 15:55 lists Maon among the hill towns of Judah. David hid in 'the wilderness of Maon' (1 Sam 23:24–25), and Nabal, Abigail's first husband, was 'a man in Maon' with flocks at Carmel (1 Sam 25:2).

Where it appears

Joshua · 1

  1. Joshua 15:55 מָע֥וֹן׀ Maon

    Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 10:12 וּמָע֔וֹן and Maon

    Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites oppressed you and you cried out to Me, did I not save you from their hands?

1 Samuel · 4

  1. 1 Samuel 23:24 מָעוֹן֙ Maon

    So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon in the Arabah south of Jeshimon,

  2. 1 Samuel 23:25 מָע֑וֹן מָעֽוֹן׃ Maon

    and Saul and his men went to seek him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard of this, he pursued David there.

    Here: A Judean town (Josh 15:55), usually identified with Khirbet Maʿin about 13 km (8 mi) south of Hebron. Its 'wilderness' is the grazing land around it, the home ground of Nabal in ch. 25.

  3. 1 Samuel 25:2 בְּמָע֜וֹן [was] in Maon

    Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.

    Here: Maon was a town in the hill country of Judah (Joshua 15:55), south of Hebron. Its 'wilderness' had just been David's hiding-ground from Saul (1 Samuel 23:24–25). This was where the man lived.

1 Chronicles · 2

  1. 1 Chronicles 2:45 מָע֑וֹן וּמָע֖וֹן [was] Maon, and Maon

    The son of Shammai was Maon, and Maon was the father of Beth-zur.

    Here: Named as Shammai's son. It is also the name of a well-known town in the Judean hill country south of Hebron (Josh 15:55; 1 Sam 23:24–25; 25:2). As an ordinary noun the word means 'dwelling' or 'refuge'.

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