Hebrew word · H7421
רַמִּי
haramim
Syrian
An Aramean, a member of the Aramaic-speaking peoples of Syria. In this period it usually means the kingdom ruled from Damascus. The form hā-rammîm drops the initial aleph of hā-ʾărammîm, a contraction also seen elsewhere in Hebrew.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
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 2 Chronicles 22:5
- Range of meaning
An Aramean, a member of the Aramaic-speaking peoples of Syria. In this period it usually means the kingdom ruled from Damascus. The form hā-rammîm drops the initial aleph of hā-ʾărammîm, a contraction also seen elsewhere in Hebrew.
- Against the English
KJV and WEB say 'Syrians/Syria', following the Greek and Latin. BSB, NIV and NASB say 'Arameans/Aram'. YLT's 'they of Ramah' takes the short form as a place name, which is a mistake: 2 Kings 8:28 spells the word out in full.
- How it drifted
Greek writers called the region 'Syria', and English versions followed the Greek and Latin. Today 'Syria' means the modern nation-state, which is much later and has different borders and a different people.
- Used elsewhere in the period
2 Kings 8:28 has hā-ʾărammîm. Aramaic inscriptions of the period, such as the Tel Dan stele, come from this Aramean world. The Greek of Chronicles appears to have read the consonants as a word for 'archers' (compare the verb rāmâ, 'to shoot', in Psalm 78:9).
Where it appears
2 Chronicles · 1
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2 Chronicles 22:5 הָֽרַמִּ֖ים the Arameans
Ahaziah also followed their counsel and went with Joram son of Ahab king of Israel to fight against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. But the Arameans wounded Joram.
Here: 'The Arameans,' in a shortened spelling (the parallel in 2 Kings 8:28 has hā-ʾărammîm). The short form happens to sound like the place name Ramah/Ramoth, which may explain why YLT reads 'they of Ramah'.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.