†
בָּמָה 104 noun feminine high place (√ apparently
בום on account of firm
ָ֯; compare Assyrian
bâmâtê Zim
BP 48, Moab. במת MI
3, 27) —
Jeremiah 48:35 +
18 times;
הַבָּמָ֫תָה 1 Samuel 9:13; plural
בָּמוֺת Numbers 21:19 +
62 times; construct
בָּֽמֳתֵי Job 9:8;
Isaiah 14:14;
Amos 4:13;
בָּֽמֳו֯תֵי Deuteronomy 32:13;
Isaiah 58:14;
Micah 1:3 (Ew
§ 211 d Ges
§ 87, 5 archaic feminine construct with retracted accent before monosyl. in poetry,
bâmŏ-thê not
bŏm); suffix
בָּמֹתַי 2 Samuel 22:34 +
3 times;
בָּמוֺתַי Psalm 18:34 +
10 times; —
2. high places, battle-fields, the chief places of the land giving possession, victory, dominion:
על במותיך on thy high places (Gilboa, the battle-field)
2 Samuel 1:19,
25 (in
2 Samuel 1:19 has a doublet
מֵתֶיךָ thy dead, see We Dr).
3. high places, as places of worship, at first on hills and mountains, later on artificial mounds or platforms, under green trees, and in cities; still later for the chapels erected thereon, and once apparently for a portable sanctuary (decked with diverse colours)
Ezekiel 16:16. The ancient worship of Israel was conducted on these high places. In the times of Samuel and David they ascended to them, descended from them, and offered sacrifices on them,
1 Samuel 9:12-25;
1 Samuel 10:5,
13 (
הבמה for
הביתה We Dr). The custom continued in the reign of Solomon, but Gibeon was
הבמה הגדולה 1 Kings 3:2-4 compare
1 Chronicles 16:39;
1 Chronicles 21:29;
2 Chronicles 1:3,
13. High places of Baal were also used
Numbers 22:41 (E)
Jeremiah 19:5;
Jeremiah 32:35; of Moab
Isaiah 15:2;
Isaiah 16:12;
Jeremiah 48:35 (compare MI
27); these must be demolished
Numbers 33:52 (J). Solomon built
במות (platforms or chapels) to Chemosh and Milkom on the Mt. of Evil Counsel opposite Jerusalem
1 Kings 11:7: Jeroboam made temples on the ancient high places of Dan and Bethel
1 Kings 12:31,
32;
2 Chronicles 11:15; they are called
במות און Hosea 10:8,
במות ישׂחק Amos 7:9: the kings of Israel built
במות and
בתי הבמות in all their cities
2 Kings 17:9, and the people worshipped there
2 Kings 17:11; these were also used by the mixed population after the exile of Israel
2 Kings 17:29,
32 (twice in verse): these various idolatrous high places were first destroyed by Josiah
1 Kings 13:2;
1 Kings 13:32; 1 Kings 13:38;
2 Kings 23:5-20 2 Chronicles 34:3. The worship of Yahweh on high places continued in Judah until the exile
1 Kings 22:44;
2 Kings 15:35; the sanctity code predicts that Yahweh will destroy them
Leviticus 26:30; they were regarded as the reason for the rejection of Shiloh
Psalm 78:58. The compiler of Kings, writing from the point of view of the Deuteronomic code, complains
רַק הַבָּמוֺת לֹא סָרוּ 2 Kings 12:4;
2 Kings 14:4;
2 Kings 15:4,
35 compare
2 Chronicles 15:17;
20:33, and praises the few pious kings who destroyed them.
a. Rehoboam built
במות with
מצבות &
אשׁרים on every high hill and under every green tree
1 Kings 14:23.
c. Jehoshaphat in his reform on the basis of the covenant code did not remove them
1 Kings 22:44 (
עוֺד הֵסִיר אֶת־הַבָּמוֺת 2 Chronicles 17:16 is doubtless incorrect, possibly read
מצבות); Jehoram, his son, made high places in the cities of Judah
2 Chronicles 21:11 (
; not
mountains HCT); and Ahaz sacrificed on high places on the hills and under every green tree and in every city of Judah
2 Kings 16:4;
2 Chronicles 28:4,
25; compare
Micah 1:5 (read
חטאת ? so
Che and others; yet compare JBL
1890, 73 f.)
e. Josiah, in his reform, based on the Deuteronomic code, defiled them and brake them down from Geba to Beersheba
2 Kings 23:5,
8,
9; but subsequently there were
במות התפת in the valley of Ben Hinnom
Jeremiah 7:31, and
במות throughout Judah
Jeremiah 17:3 compare
Ezekiel 6:3,
6;
[
H1117 Ezekiel 20:29] (questioned by Ew & Co).
4. funereal mound (?)
Ezekiel 43:7 (Thes, but
in their high places AV RV;
in their death Theod Ew Hi RVm),
Isaiah 53:9 (Lowth Ew Bö Rodwell Orelli; but
in his death AV RV, or
martyr death De Che Br).
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database.
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