Open Bible Data Home About News OET Key
OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB BLB AICNT OEB WEBBE WMBB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE Moff JPS Wymth ASV DRA YLT Drby RV Wbstr KJB-1769 KJB-1611 Bshps Gnva Cvdl TNT Wycl SR-GNT UHB BrLXX BrTr Related Topics Parallel Interlinear Reference Dictionary Search
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W XY Z
BAMAH
Hebrew word meaning height, ridge, or elevation in the topography of the land (2 Sm 1:19, 25; 22:34); transliterated into English once (Ez 20:29; see NLT). It is a term designating hills or mountains overlooking the Arnon River (Nm 21:28). The plural form (Bamoth) alone or as the first part of a compound is used for the name of towns in Moab (Nm 21:19-20; 22:41; Jos 13:17).
Metaphorically, the word connotes a place of security (Dt 32:13; Hb 3:19), as well as the high ground that a military commander wished to control in battle. Possession of an enemy’s “heights” was synonymous with subjection of that enemy (Dt 33:29; Ez 36:2). The word seems to combine both literal and figurative connotations in several references to Jerusalem, a “high place” in ruin overgrown with scrub vegetation (Mi 3:12; see also Jer 26:18; Ez 36:1-2). “High place” was also a special, or technical, term in Canaanite religion, designating a local shrine on a hill near a town or village, in contrast to the large temples located throughout the land.
See also High Place.