Hadad Rimmon
Hadad Rimmon is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Galilee in modern-day Israel. Known today as Rummanah. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Hadad Rimmon appears only once in Scripture, in Zechariah 12:11, within a striking eschatological passage about Jerusalem's future mourning: "On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo." The prophet invokes Hadad Rimmon as a proverbial reference point for intense national grief. Most commentators associate this mourning with the death of King Josiah at Megiddo in 609 BC (2 Chronicles 35:22–25), when this righteous king was fatally wounded by Pharaoh Necho and the entire nation lamented his passing. Hadad Rimmon was apparently a place near Megiddo where such mourning was particularly remembered or where lamentation rituals were performed. The compound name combines Hadad, a Syro-Canaanite storm deity, with Rimmon, suggesting possible earlier Canaanite cultic associations with the site. Zechariah uses the memory of this historic grief to describe the depth of future repentance that will accompany Jerusalem's spiritual restoration.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Hadad Rimmon is tentatively identified with Rummanah (or Rummane), a village located in the Jezreel Valley near Megiddo in modern Israel. The Jezreel Valley (plain of Megiddo) was the site of numerous decisive battles in ancient history, making it a region of recurring historical mourning. Megiddo itself has been extensively excavated by the Oriental Institute, the Hebrew University, and Tel Aviv University, revealing over twenty strata of occupation from the Chalcolithic period through the Persian era. The strategic importance of Megiddo is well-attested archaeologically, including the elaborate Iron Age water system, stables, and gate complexes. The precise location of Hadad Rimmon as a distinct site within the plain has not been archaeologically confirmed.
Verse Appearances (1)
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References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]