Horonaim

Horonaim (Hebrew: חוֹרֹנַיִם)‎^[1] is a city in Moab, mentioned in two Hebrew Bible oracles against the nation of Moab: in the Book of Jeremiah (48), and in the Book of Isaiah, (15). In 2 Samuel (13:34), an addition from the Septuagint text (ὁδοῦ τῆς ῾Ωρωνῆν) is sometimes translated as Horonaim (in e.g. NIV, ISV), although it possibly derives from as little as a preposition.^[2]

There is some reason to identify Horonaim with the city Horonan (Hebrew: חורננ‎), named in the Mesha Stele (lines 31 and 32).^[3] The name may derive from the god Horon,^[4] or from Western Semitic words for cave, cavern, hollow or valley.^[5]

References

1. Hebrew word #2773 in Strong's Concordance
2. Fincke, Andrew (2001). The Samuel scroll from Qumran : 4qSam^a restored and compared to the Septuagint and 4Sam^c. Leiden: Brill. p. 215. ISBN 9004123709.
3. Hallo, William W; Younger, K. Lawson, eds. (2003). The Context of Scripture: Canonical compositions, monumental inscriptions and archival documents from the biblical world II. Brill. p. 138, note g. ISBN 1423714490.
4. van der Toorn, Karel; Becking, Bob; Willem van der Horst, Pieter (1999). "Horon". Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. Eerdmans. p. 425. ISBN 9780802824912.
5.  Easton, Matthew George (1897). "Horonaim". Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.; and Strong's Hebrew, both in .