Hashmonah
Hashmonah is a location mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Qoseimeh. It appears across 2 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Hashmonah is mentioned in the Old Testament exclusively in the context of the Israelite wilderness itinerary during the Exodus. In Numbers 33:29–30, it appears as one of the encampment stations between Mithkah and Moseroth in the list of the forty-two stopping places through which Israel passed during their forty years of wandering in the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan. The account in Numbers 33 is understood by scholars as a summary itinerary preserving ancient geographical memory of Israel's desert sojourn. The name Hashmonah may mean "fruitfulness" or relate to a root suggesting fatness or abundance, possibly indicating a place with water or vegetation that made it suitable as a campsite. The site would lie somewhere in the wilderness of the Negev or Sinai peninsula, on the route Israel traveled during the generation of judgment that followed the sin of Kadesh Barnea. Though Hashmonah itself plays no dramatic narrative role, its inclusion in the itinerary of Numbers 33 reflects the biblical conviction that God accompanied Israel through every stage of the wilderness journey, guiding their movements and sustaining them at each encampment along the way toward the promised land.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The identification of Hashmonah with Qoseimeh, located in the northeastern Sinai-Negev borderland, has been proposed based on geographical and phonological considerations, though certainty remains elusive. Ain el-Qudeirat and the surrounding area have been subject to archaeological work, revealing traces of Iron Age and later occupation consistent with the general route of the Exodus itinerary. The Negev highlands through which Israel likely traveled show a pattern of Bronze Age campsites and temporary settlements identified through surface survey. Without epigraphic evidence specifically naming Hashmonah, the identification remains a working hypothesis, dependent on correlating the sequence of sites in Numbers 33 with the physical geography of the Sinai and Negev.
Verse Appearances (2)
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]