גִּדְעֹם
Gidom, a place in Palestine
Definition
Gidom is a proper noun referring to a specific location in ancient Palestine, mentioned only once in the Old Testament. The name itself means 'a cutting' or 'desolation,' derived from the Hebrew root for 'to cut down.' In its sole biblical occurrence (Judges 20:45), Gidom is described as a place east of Gibeah, to which the surviving Benjamite soldiers fled during the civil war described in Judges 19-21. The name likely reflects the geographical or historical nature of the site, possibly a place of cutting off or destruction.
Biblical Usage
The word Gidom is used only once in the Old Testament, in the historical narrative of Judges 20:45. It functions strictly as a geographical place name, marking a point in the flight route of the defeated Benjamite army after the Battle of Gibeah. The context is the severe internal conflict between the tribe of Benjamin and the other Israelite tribes. No other biblical books reference this location, and its usage provides a specific, though minor, detail in the account of this tribal war.
Etymology
The name Gidom (גִּדְעֹם) is derived from the Hebrew root גָּדַע (gada', H1438), which means 'to cut off, hew down, or chop.' It is a noun form indicating 'a cutting' or 'a place of cutting.' This etymology suggests the location may have been associated with deforestation, a quarry, a ravine, or perhaps metaphorically with a military defeat or 'cutting off' of people, which fits its narrative context in Judges.
Semantic Range
As a place name, Gidom reflects the ancient Israelite practice of naming locations based on physical characteristics or significant events. Its meaning ('cutting/desolation') would have been immediately recognizable to the original audience, likely evoking an image of a barren, rough, or isolated landscape. In the cultural context of Judges, a book detailing cycles of sin and tribal strife, the name Gidom—a place of desperate flight—underscores the severe consequences of the moral collapse and inter-tribal warfare that characterized the period before the monarchy.
No direct synonyms as a proper place name. Related toponyms in the same narrative include: Gibeah (H1390) — the main city where the battle began; and Rimmon (H7417) — the rock where the Benjamites ultimately took refuge (Judges 20:47).
Word Details
How this works
Hebrew definitions are from Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906) and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890), both public domain. BDB was groundbreaking for its era but reflects 19th-century assumptions about Semitic etymology. Modern scholarship (HALOT, DCH) has revised many entries. Use these definitions as a starting point for exploration, not as the final word on a term's meaning in context.
Full methodology & sources →