Hamath
Hamath is a settlement mentioned in 21 verses. Its most likely location is Hama. The name means “anger; heat; a wall.”
Where is Hamath?
Approx. 35.1365, 36.7500 · OpenStreetMap · Google Maps
Possible modern locations
| Identification | Type | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Hama | settlement | High |
Hamath in the Bible dictionary
Fortress, the capital of one of the kingdoms of Upper Syria of the same name, on the Orontes, in the valley of Lebanon, at the northern boundary of Palestine (Num. 13:21; 34:8), at the foot of Hermon (Josh. 13:5) towards Damascus (Zech. 9:2; Jer. 49:23). It is called “Hamath the great” in Amos 6:2, and “Hamath-zobah” in 2 Chr. 8:3.
Hamath, now Hamah, had an Aramaean population, but Hittite monuments discovered there show that it must have been at one time occupied by the Hittites. It was among the conquests of the Pharaoh Thothmes III. Its king, Tou or Toi, made alliance with David (2 Sam. 8:10), and in B.C. 740 Azariah formed a league with it against Assyria. It was, however, conquered by the Assyrians, and its nineteen districts placed under Assyrian governors. In B.C. 720 it revolted under a certain Yahu-bihdi, whose name, compounded with that of the God of Israel (Yahu), perhaps shows that he was of Jewish origin. But the revolt was suppressed, and the people of Hamath were transported to Samaria (2 Kings 17:24, 30), where they continued to worship their god Ashima. Hamah is beautifully situated on the Orontes, 32 miles north of Emesa, and 36 south of the ruins of Assamea.
The kingdom of Hamath comprehended the great plain lying on both banks of the Orontes from the fountain near Riblah to Assamea on the north, and from Lebanon on the west to the desert on the east. The “entrance of Hamath” (Num. 34:8), which was the north boundary of Palestine, led from the west between the north end of Lebanon and the Nusairiyeh mountains.
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), public domain. Full dictionary entry →
Verses that mention Hamath
- 2 Samuel 8:9
When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer,
- 2 Kings 14:28
Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which belonged to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
- 2 Kings 18:34
Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
- 2 Kings 19:13
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
- 2 Kings 23:33
And Pharaoh–nechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
- 2 Kings 25:21
And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land.
- 1 Chronicles 18:9
Now when Tou king of Hamath heard how David had smitten all the host of Hadarezer king of Zobah;
- 2 Chronicles 8:4
And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.
- Isaiah 10:9
Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?
- Isaiah 11:11
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.