Gath Rimmon
“Winepress of the pomegranate”
Summary
A Levitical city in the territory of Dan, and possibly a second city of the same name in Manasseh.
☩Location and Assignment
Gath-rimmon was a city in the tribe of Dan, situated on the plain of Philistia not far from Joppa. It was assigned to the Levites as one of their designated cities. Eusebius and Jerome described it as a very large village about twelve miles from Diospolis (Lydda) toward Eleutheropolis.
☩Textual Questions
A Gath-rimmon is also mentioned as being in the half-tribe of Manasseh west of Jordan. Many scholars believe this second reference is a copyist's error, with the transcriber's eye having caught the name from the previous verse. The parallel passage in Chronicles gives Bileam (Ibleam) instead, which is likely the correct reading for the Manassite city.
References
- 1.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Gathrimmon," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 2.George Morrish, "Gathrimmon," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 3.John McClintock and James Strong, "Gath-rimmon," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. III (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 4.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Gath-Rimmon," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).