Hebrew word · H5871

עַ֫יִן

'ayin

Ain

As a common noun ʿayin means 'eye' and 'spring of water' (a spring was seen as the 'eye' of the landscape). As a place name it means 'Spring'. It shows up in many compound names such as En-gedi and En-rimmon.

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

What it means

Ain = "spring"

one of the southernmost cities of Judah in the Nekeb and allotted to the tribe of Simeon and given to the priests

Also named: en rim.mon (עֵין רִמּוֹן "En-rimmon" H5884)

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 21:16

Range of meaning

As a common noun ʿayin means 'eye' and 'spring of water' (a spring was seen as the 'eye' of the landscape). As a place name it means 'Spring'. It shows up in many compound names such as En-gedi and En-rimmon.

Against the English

English versions all give the name 'Ain' and do not translate it, so readers miss both the meaning 'spring' and the identification question.

Used elsewhere in the period

Josh 15:32 and 19:7 list 'Ain, Rimmon' together among the southern towns of Judah and Simeon. Neh 11:29 has 'En-rimmon', a single place. 1 Chr 6:59, the parallel to this verse, reads 'Ashan', a Simeonite town (Josh 15:42; 19:7; 1 Chr 4:32).

Where it appears

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 34:11 לָעָ֑יִן of <the> Ain

    then go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Chinnereth.

    Here: 'Ayin' means 'eye' and, by extension, 'spring'. With the article it can be read as 'the Spring', a well-known water source. It is often thought to be one of the springs feeding the Jordan, but the location is unknown. It is not the southern Ain of Josh 15:32.

Joshua · 3

  1. Joshua 15:32 וְעַ֣יִן and Ain

    Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon—twenty-nine cities in all, along with their villages.

  2. Joshua 19:7 עַ֥יִן׀ Ain

    Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities, along with their villages,

  3. Joshua 21:16 עַ֣יִן Ain

    Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine cities from these two tribes, together with their pasturelands.

    Here: A town in the far south. The name means 'spring' (also 'eye'). It is probably the same place called Ashan elsewhere (see the textual notes). It counts as Simeon's contribution to the list.

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 4:32 וָעַ֔יִן and Ain

    And their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five towns—

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