Hebrew word · H7436

רָמָתַיִם צוֹפִים

haramatayim

Ramathaim-zophim

Rāmāh means 'height' or 'high place' (from rûm, 'to be high'). Rāmātayim has a 'two'-form ending, so it can be heard as 'the Two Heights', though this ending also appears in place names that are not literally double. It could also be heard through ṣāp̄āh, 'to watch' ('watchmen').

Appears 2 times in 1 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Ramathaim-zophim = "double height of the watchers"

the home place of Samuel located in the hill country of Ephraim

the same as ra.mah (רָמָה "Ramah" H7414)

Another name of mits.pah (מִצְפָּה "Mizpah" H4709G)

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 Samuel 1:1

Range of meaning

Rāmāh means 'height' or 'high place' (from rûm, 'to be high'). Rāmātayim has a 'two'-form ending, so it can be heard as 'the Two Heights', though this ending also appears in place names that are not literally double. Ṣôp̄îm is most likely connected to the clan of Zuph, as in 'the land of Zuph' (1 Sam 9:5). It could also be heard through ṣāp̄āh, 'to watch' ('watchmen').

Against the English

KJV, ESV, NASB, WEB and BSB keep the double name 'Ramathaim-zophim'. NIV and NRSV read 'Ramathaim, a Zuphite'. NLT turns it into a description of the region. English readers usually cannot tell that the same town is called simply 'Ramah' from 1:19 on.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has Armathaim Sipha. The Aramaic Targum reads 'from Ramatha, of the disciples of the prophets', taking Ṣôp̄îm as 'watchers', meaning seers. Eusebius (Onomasticon, early 4th century AD) places Armathem Sophim near Diospolis (Lydda) and connects it with the New Testament Arimathea. Many scholars find that connection plausible. Others locate Samuel's Ramah at er-Ram, north of Jerusalem.

Similar words

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 2

  1. 1 Samuel 1:1 הָרָמָתַ֛יִם צוֹפִ֖ים <the> Ramathaim, Zophim

    Now there was a man named Elkanah who was from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

    Here: A place name built on 'height'. It has a 'two'-form ending, so it can be heard as 'the Two Heights'. The town is later simply called Ramah, 'the Height' (1:19; 2:11), and it becomes Samuel's home.

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