Horonaim (
Hebrew: חוֹרֹנַיִםḤōrōnayīm)[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 (
Moabite: 𐤇𐤅𐤓𐤍𐤍 *Ḥawrānān),[3] named in the
Mesha Stele (lines 31 and 32).[4] The name may derive from the god
Horon,[5] or from Western Semitic words for cave, cavern, hollow or valley.[6]
^Fincke, Andrew (2001). The Samuel scroll from Qumran : 4qSama restored and compared to the Septuagint and 4Samc. Leiden: Brill. p. 215.
ISBN9004123709.
^Hallo, William W; Younger, K. Lawson, eds. (2003). The Context of Scripture: Canonical compositions, monumental inscriptions and archival documents from the biblical world. Vol. II. Brill. p. 138, note g.
ISBN1423714490.