Dumah
“Silence”
Summary
A son of Ishmael and the Arabian tribe descended from him, also a town in Judah's hill country; prophetically used as an emblematic designation of Edom.
☩The Ishmaelite Tribe
Dumah was the fourth son of Ishmael, and his descendants formed a tribe inhabiting a region in northern Arabia. Arab tradition holds that this son of Ishmael founded the town of Dumat-el-Jandal ('Stone Dumah'), so called from its cyclopean masonry. The town lay halfway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Akaba, serving as an important caravan station.
☩The Burden of Dumah
Isaiah's cryptic 'burden of Dumah' is coupled with references to Seir and Kedar. A watchman is asked 'What of the night?' and responds that morning comes, but also night. The name Dumah, meaning 'silence,' may be deliberately used to suggest that Edom would soon be put to silence—destroyed. The oracle's obscurity has generated much scholarly discussion.
☩The Town in Judah
A separate Dumah was a town in the hill country of Judah, west-southwest of Hebron. Eusebius describes it as a large village in the district of Daroma. The modern site is identified with ed-Daumeh, about six miles southwest of Hebron.
Related Verses5 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Dumah," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Dumah," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. II (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).