Zalmon
An Ahohite, of David's guard (2Sa 23:28); in 1Ch 11:29, Ilai.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Zalmon
Zalmon zal'-mon (tsalmon; Selmon, oros Ermon; the King James Version Salmon (Ps 68:14)): ⇒See a list of verses on ZALMON in the Bible. (1) From the slopes of Mt. Zalmon, Abimelech and his followers gathered the wood with which they burned down "the stronghold of the house of El-berith," which may have been the citadel of Shechem (Jg 9:46). The mountain therefore was not far from the city; but no name resembling this has yet been recovered in Mt. Ephraim. It is just possible that in the modern Arabic name of Mt. Ebal, es-Sulemiyeh, there may be an echo of Zalmon. It is precisely to this mountain, especially to the western slopes, that one would expect Abimelech and his people to go for the purpose in view. The name occurs again in Ps 68:14, a passage of admitted difficulty. Snow in Palestine is mainly associated with Mt. Hermon, where it may be seen nearly all the year round; hence, doubtless the Greek reading "Mt. Hermon" in Judges. But snow is well known among the uplands in winter; and the Psalmist may simply have meant that the kings were scattered like snowflakes in the wind on M…
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible on Zalmon
i. The place mentioned in Ps 68" is considered by some com- mentators to be the same as Mount Zalmon (.Ig 9'''') — the hill, near Shechem, on which Abinie- lech and his jieople cut down boughs to set ' the hold ' of the house of El-berith on lire. There is, however, nothing in Ps 68 to lend to the belief that the Psalmist intended to refer to an undcr- feature of Mount Gerizira, which is mentioned in the OT only in connexion with an incident th.at had no influence on the history of the Israelites. The central idea of the psalm is the selection of Zion as the abode of God, in preference to Sinai ■whence the Law was given, and to ' the mountain of Bashan' which had looked down upon the memor- able overthrow of Og anil his army. The earlier verses contain a retrospective glance at the journey of the Israelites from Sinai onwards, through the desert, under the immediate leading and K^idauce of God, and their triumphant occupation of Canaan after vanquishing all their enemies. In this vic- torious progress, one of the most striking incidents was the complete overthrow of Og, near Edrei, o…
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia