טַבְרִמּוֹן
Tabrimmon, a Syrian
Definition
Tabrimmon is a proper name meaning 'pleasing to Rimmon' or 'Rimmon is good.' He is identified as a Syrian (Aramean) king, the father of Ben-hadad I, who was king of Aram-Damascus. The name appears only in 1 Kings 15:18, where King Asa of Judah sends treasures from the temple to Ben-hadad, son of Tabrimmon, to secure an alliance against Israel. The name itself is a compound theophoric name, indicating devotion to the god Rimmon.
Biblical Usage
This word is used only once in the Old Testament, in 1 Kings 15:18. It functions strictly as a proper name identifying the father of King Ben-hadad I of Aram-Damascus. The context is political, describing the diplomatic and military alliances between the kingdoms of Judah, Israel, and Aram during the divided monarchy period.
Etymology
The name derives from the Hebrew root words טוֹב (ṭôv, H2895), meaning 'good' or 'pleasing,' and רִמּוֹן (rimmôn, H7417), which is the name of the Aramean storm god Rimmon. It is a theophoric name, a common Semitic practice where a deity's name is incorporated into a personal name, here meaning 'Rimmon is good' or 'pleasing to Rimmon.'
Semantic Range
While the name itself is not central to core biblical doctrine, its appearance highlights the religious and political syncretism of Israel's neighbors. The name venerates a pagan deity (Rimmon), contrasting with the worship of Yahweh. Its use in 1 Kings 15 underscores the desperate, and often theologically compromised, political maneuvers of Judah's kings, who sought alliances with pagan nations instead of relying on God's protection, a recurring theme in the historical books.
In the ancient Near East, personal names often honored local deities, as seen with Tabrimmon ('pleasing to Rimmon'). Rimmon was a major storm god worshipped in Aram (modern Syria), particularly in Damascus (cf. 2 Kings 5:18). This name reflects the common cultural practice of invoking divine favor through one's name. For the biblical authors, mentioning such a name subtly reinforced the foreign, pagan identity of Judah's political allies.
Ben-hadad (H1130) — The son of Tabrimmon; a dynastic name for several Aramean kings. Hadadezer (H1909) — Another Aramean king whose name also incorporates the name of a deity (Hadad).
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.
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