עַטְרוֹת שׁוֹפָן

From the study of Numbers 32:35

Range of meaning

The first part, ʿaṭarot, is the plural of a noun from the root ʿ-ṭ-r, 'to surround, encircle'. The related noun ʿaṭarah means 'crown, wreath' (e.g. 2 Samuel 12:30; Proverbs 12:4). In place names the plural probably means 'rings, enclosures': stone pens for flocks, or a ring of walls on a hill. Several towns had this name (Ataroth in Gad, Ataroth-addar in Benjamin/Ephraim, Atroth-beth-joab in Judah). Each was told apart by a second element. Shophan is that second element here, and what it means is uncertain.

Against the English

BSB, WEB, ESV and NASB print one hyphenated town, 'Atroth-shophan'. KJV and YLT print 'Atroth, Shophan' as two towns. That gives the reader one more town than the Hebrew tradition counts.

Used elsewhere in the period

The place name Ataroth appears in the 9th-century BC Mesha Stele from Moab (lines 10–11). Mesha says that 'the men of Gad had lived in the land of Ataroth from of old, and the king of Israel built Ataroth for himself'. That inscription concerns the Ataroth of verse 34, which is usually identified with Khirbet ʿAtaruz. It confirms that the name, and Gad's presence in the area, were real Iron Age facts. Atroth-shophan itself is not known outside this verse.