Senses
1. Hamath (city and region) — Hamath (also transliterated Chamat/Chamath), a major ancient city and kingdom on the Orontes River in modern-day Syria, serving as a key geographical marker for the northern boundary of the Promised Land and Israelite territory. The phrase 'the entrance of Hamath' (לְבוֹא חֲמָת) functions as a standard boundary formula throughout the Hebrew Bible. Appears across multiple biblical contexts: boundary descriptions (Num 13:21, 34:8; Josh 13:5; Judg 3:3), Davidic conquests and alliances (2 Sam 8:9; 1 Kgs 8:65), Northern Kingdom expansion (2 Kgs 14:25/28), Assyrian conquest accounts (2 Kgs 17:24/30, 18:34, 19:13, 23:33, 25:21), and Chronicles parallels (1 Chr 13:5, 18:3/9; 2 Chr 8:4). All morphological variants (bare form, with prepositions מִן/בְּ/לְ, directional ה-) refer to the same geographic entity. Multilingual glosses are remarkably consistent in transliterating: Hamath/Hamat/Chamat (Eng/Deu/Fra/Spa), حَمَاة (Arb), हमात/खमात (Hin), 하맛/하마 (Kor). 35×
AR["حَماةَ","حَمَاةَ","حَمَاةُ"]·ben["সোবা-এর","হমাতের","হমাথকে","হমাথের","হমাৎ","হামাথের।","হামাৎ"]·DE["Chamat","Chamath","Hamat","Hamath"]·EN["Chamat","Chamath","Hamath","of-Chamat"]·FR["Chamat","Chamath","Hamath"]·heb["חמת"]·HI["खमात","खमात-की","खामात","हमात","हमात-का","हमात-के","हमात-के।"]·ID["Hamat"]·IT["Camat","Chamat","Chamath","Hamat","Hamath"]·jav["Hamat"]·KO["하마","하마의","하맋의","하맛","하맛-을","하맛과","하맛의","하맛이"]·PT["Chamat","Hamat"]·RU["Хамат","Хамата"]·ES["Hamat","Jamat","Khamat","de-Hamat","es-Jamat"]·SW["Hamathi","cha-Misri","wa-Hamathi","ya-Hamathi"]·TR["Hamat","Hamat'a","Hamat'in","Hamat'ı","Hamat'ın","Hamatın"]·urd["حمات","حمات-کا","حمات-کو","حمات-کی","حمات-کے"]
Num 13:21, Num 34:8, Josh 13:5, Judg 3:3, 2 Sam 8:9, 1 Kgs 8:65, 2 Kgs 14:25, 2 Kgs 14:28, 2 Kgs 17:24, 2 Kgs 17:30, 2 Kgs 18:34, 2 Kgs 19:13 (+23 more)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† חֲמָת, חֲמַת n.pr.loc. (√ dub.; Thes MV al. der. from חָמָה, חֲמָת = fortress, or (v. RSSem i, 140), sacred enclosure, temenos, ḥimā, cf. HalJAS 7 ème Sér. x, 392 LagBN 82, 156; but no certainty that name is Shemitic; Arabic حَمَاة, Assyrian Amattu, DlPA 275 ff. Pr 174);—mod. Ḥamâ, on el-ʿÂṣi (Orontes), 38 h. (c. 115 m.) N. of Damascus, v. BdPal. 398 f. It had a king, תֹּעִי, in David’s time 2…