Bible Word Study
עֵין רִמּוֹן
ʻÊyn Rimmôwn · En-Rimmon, a place in Palestine
עֵין רִמּוֹן
En-Rimmon, a place in Palestine
Definition
En-Rimmon is a place name meaning 'spring of the pomegranate,' referring to a town in the territory of Judah. It is listed among the settlements repopulated by the tribe of Judah after the return from the Babylonian exile (Nehemiah 11:29). The name likely describes a location known for a fresh water source (spring) and possibly pomegranate trees or cultivation. As a compound place name, it combines two common elements to identify a specific geographical location in the southern part of ancient Judah.
Biblical Usage
This proper noun is used only once in the Old Testament, in Nehemiah 11:29. It appears in a list detailing the resettlement of towns in Judah by the returning exiles. The context is administrative and geographical, serving to document the re-establishment of the tribal inheritance in the post-exilic period.
Etymology
The name is a compound of two Hebrew words: 'ayin' (עַיִן, H5869), meaning 'spring' or 'fountain,' and 'rimmon' (רִמּוֹן, H7416), meaning 'pomegranate.' It is a straightforward descriptive toponym, common in Hebrew for places associated with water sources and local flora.
Semantic Range
Place names like En-Rimmon were practical identifiers in ancient Israel, often describing a location's key physical features. A 'spring' was a vital, life-sustaining resource in the arid climate, and the pomegranate was a valued fruit tree, symbolizing fertility and abundance. The name reflects an agrarian society's connection to the land and its resources. עַיִן ('Ayin, H5869) — The root word for 'spring' or 'fountain,' a common element in many place names (e.g., En-Gedi). רִמּוֹן (Rimmôn, H7416) — The root word for 'pomegranate,' also used as a place name itself (e.g., Rimmon).
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]