Hebrew word · H588

אֲנָֽחֲרָ֑ת

va'anacharat

Anaharath

A proper name. It is pre-Israelite and probably Canaanite. Its meaning is uncertain.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Anaharath = "the groaning of fear"

(BDB) city in Naphtali or Issachar

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 19:19

Range of meaning

A proper name. It is pre-Israelite and probably Canaanite. Its meaning is uncertain.

Against the English

Anaharath in all supplied versions.

Used elsewhere in the period

Egyptian records name it in the Late Bronze Age, centuries before Israel's monarchy. It is on Thutmose III's list of Canaanite towns at Karnak (15th century BC). Amenhotep II's stelae from Memphis and Karnak record that he plundered Anaharath on a campaign in Canaan. Modern proposals for the site include Tel Rekhesh (Tell el-Mukharkhash) in eastern Lower Galilee and the area of en-Naʿura near the Hill of Moreh. Many scholars prefer Tel Rekhesh.

Where it appears

Joshua · 1

  1. Joshua 19:19 וַאֲנָחֲרַֽת׃ and Anaharath

    Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath,

    Here: The third town, ending this verse. It appears only here in the Bible, but Egyptian royal records name it centuries earlier. That makes it the best-documented of the three outside Scripture. The pause mark at the end closes the verse, though the list carries on into verse 20.

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