Hormah
Hor'mah (Heb. Chormah', חָרמָה, devoted city, otherwise peak of a hill; Sept. ῾ερνά 5. r. occasionally ῾Ερμάθ and ἀνάθεμα), a royal city of the Canaanites in the south of Palestine (Jos 12:14; 1Sa 30:30), near which the Israelites experienced a discomfiture from the Amalekites resident there, as they perversely attempted to enter Canaan by that route after the divine sentence of wandering (Nu 14:45; Nu 21:1-3; Deuteronomy 1, 44). Joshua afterwards besieged its king (Jos 15:30), and on its capture assigned the city to the tribe of Judah, but finally it was included in the territory given to Simeon (Jos 19:4; Jg 1:17; 1Ch 4:30). It is elsewhere mentioned only in 1Ch 4:30. It was originally called ZEPHATH (Jg 1:17), under which name it appears to have been again rebuilt and occupied by the Canaanites (see Bertheau, ad loc.; Hengstenberg, Pentat. 2, 220); whereas the name Hormah was probably given to the site by the Israelites in token of its demolition (see Nu 21:3). Hence traces of the older name alone remain. SEE ZEPHATH.
