Bible Word Study
בַּרְחֻמִי
Barchumîy · a Barchumite, or native of Bachurim
בַּרְחֻמִי
a Barchumite, or native of Bachurim
Definition
בַּרְחֻמִי (Barchumîy) is a gentilic noun meaning 'a Barchumite,' referring to someone from the town of Bachurim (also spelled Bahurim). This term identifies an individual by their geographical origin, specifically as an inhabitant of Bachurim, a village located near Jerusalem. The word appears only once in the Old Testament, in 2 Samuel 23:31, where it describes one of King David's mighty men, 'Abi-albon the Barchumite.' There are no other biblical senses or meanings for this term, as its usage is strictly as a place-name identifier.
Biblical Usage
This word is used a single time in the Old Testament, specifically in the historical books. It functions solely as a gentilic (a name denoting origin) to specify the hometown of one of David's warriors. The context is the list of David's 'mighty men' in 2 Samuel 23:8-39, where it provides geographical detail for Abi-albon (also called Abiel in 1 Chronicles 11:32). There are no patterns of usage beyond this one historical reference.
Etymology
The term בַּרְחֻמִי (Barchumîy) is derived by a known linguistic transposition (metathesis) of letters from the more original form בַּחֲרוּמִי (Bacharûmîy, H978), which means 'a Bachurimite.' Both forms point to the place-name Bachurim (בַּחוּרִים). The root is likely related to the Hebrew word for 'young men' (בְּחוּרִים, b'churim), possibly indicating the town was known for its youth or was a 'choice' location. The transposition is a common phonetic variation in Hebrew gentilics.
Semantic Range
In the ancient Israelite context, a gentilic name like 'Barchumite' was a primary way to identify a person's origin and social connection. The town of Bachurim itself is mentioned elsewhere (2 Samuel 3:16, 16:5, 17:18, 19:16; 1 Kings 2:8) as a Benjamite village east of Jerusalem, near the Mount of Olives. It was a location of significant events during David's reign, including Shimei's cursing of David. Being identified as a 'Barchumite' placed Abi-albon within the tribal and regional networks of ancient Israel, associating him with a known, though not major, settlement. בַּחֲרוּמִי (Bacharûmîy, H978) — The alternate, non-transposed spelling for an inhabitant of Bachurim.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB, 1906, public domain). Concordance and morphology data are from the OSHB (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible).
Full methodology & sources →References
- Abbott-Smith, G. (1921) A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Brown, F., Driver, S.R. and Briggs, C.A. (1906) A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (TBESG). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Formatted full LSJ (TFLSJ). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Thayer, J.H. (1889) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. [Public Domain]
- Gesenius, W. (1846) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament. [Public Domain]
- Dodson, J. (2010) Greek Lexicon. Biblical Humanities. [CC0]