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Gath-rimmon meaning

Gath-rimmon in Biblical Hebrew
גת־רמון
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🔼The name Gath-rimmon: Summary

Meaning
Pomegranate Press, Winepress Of Elevation
Etymology
From (1) the noun גת (gat), press, and (2) the verb רום (rum), to be high.
Related names
• Via גת (gat): Gath, Gath-hepher, Gether, Gethsemane, Gittaim, Gittite, Moresheth-gath
• Via רום (rum): Abiram, Abram, Adoniram, Ahiram, Amram, Aram, Aramean, Aram-maacah, Aram-naharaim, Aram-zobah, Arimathea, Armageddon, Armoni, Arni, Arumah, Beth-haram, En-rimmon, Hadadrimmon, Hadoram, Hiram, Huram-abi, Jarmuth, Jehoram, Jeremai, Jeremiah, Jeremoth, Jerimoth, Joram, Jorim, Malchiram, Meremoth, Paddan-aram, Ram, Ramah, Ramathaim-zophim, Ramath-lehi, Ramath-mizpeh, Ramoth, Ramoth-negev, Rephan, Reumah, Rimmon, Rimmon-methoar, Rimmono, Rimmon-perez, Romamti-ezer, Rome, Rumah, Shemiramoth, Tabrimmon

🔼The name Gath-rimmon in the Bible

There are one or two towns named Gath-rimmon in the Bible:

  • A town situated in the territory of Dan (Joshua 19:45), which was handed over to the Kohathites (Joshua 21:24, 1 Chronicles 6:69).
  • A town situated in Manasseh, which also went to the Kohathites (Joshua 21:25). In the parallel text of 1 Chronicles 6:70 the name Gath-rimmon does not occur and we read about Bileam instead, which is probably the same as Ibleam mentioned in Joshua 17:11. BDB Theological Dictionary deems all this confusion due to a scribal error.

🔼Etymology of the name Gath-rimmon

The name Gath-rimmon consists of two parts. The first part is the same as the name Gath and the noun גת (gat) meaning press:

Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
יגן

The verb יגן (yagan) probably meant to beat or press, since the derived noun גת (gat) describes a wine-press.

— See the full Dictionary article —

The second part of our name is the same as the name Rimmon and means pomegranate:

Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
רום

The verb רום (rum) means to be high or high up in either a physical, social or even attitudinal sense, and may also refer to the apex in a natural process: the being ripe and ready-for-harvest of fruits. Subsequently, our verb may imply a state beyond ripe (higher than ripe, overripe), which thus refers to rotting and being maggot riddled. This means that to the ancients, higher did not simply mean better, and an arrogant political status that was higher than it should be equaled rot and worms (Acts 12:23).

Derived nouns, such as רום (rum) and related forms such as רמה (rama), describe height or pride. Noun רמות (ramut) describes some high thing. The noun ארמון ('armon) refers to a society's apex: a citadel or palace. The noun ראם (re'em) describes the wild ox, which was named possibly for the same reason why we moderns call a rising market a "bull" market. The similar verb ראם (ra'am) means to rise.

The important noun רמון (rimmon) means pomegranate and the pomegranate became the symbol for harvest-ready fruit (see our full dictionary article for more on this). Overripe items might suffer the noun רמה (rimma), worm or maggot, or the verb רמם (ramam), to be wormy.

— See the full Dictionary article —

🔼Gath-rimmon meaning

For a meaning of the name Gath-rimmon, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Pomegranate Press and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names proposes the rather unfortunate Wine-Press Of The Pomegranate. BDB Theological Dictionary does not offer a translation of our name.