H7708 H7708
Siddim—the valley where Dead Sea cities were located, later submerged
This place name identifies the valley where Sodom, Gomorrah, and allied cities were located before their destruction. Genesis 14:3, 8, 10 locates the battle of the kings in this valley, later identified with the Salt Sea (Dead Sea). The name may relate to 'fields' or 'furrows,' though interpretations vary. By the time Genesis was written, this once-inhabited valley had become the Dead Sea basin, preserving a geographical memory of the pre-catastrophe landscape.
Senses
1. sense 1 — All three occurrences are in Genesis 14, identifying the valley as the battle site for the five kings against four. The text explicitly equates it with the Salt Sea (14:3), suggesting later readers knew this valley had been transformed. Spanish 'Sidim' and other versions transliterate the name. Verse 10's mention of the valley's bitumen pits provides geographical detail about the pre-Dead Sea topography, preserved in the tradition. 3×
AR["السِّدِّيمِ"]·ben["সিদ্দীমের"]·DE["Siddim"]·EN["the-Siddim"]·FR["le-Siddim"]·heb["ה-שדים", "ה-שדים"]·HI["सिद्दिम-कि"]·ID["Sidim-itu"]·IT["il-Siddim"]·jav["Sidim"]·KO["시딫의", "시딭의"]·PT["Sidim"]·RU["-Сиддим"]·ES["Sidim"]·SW["Sidimu", "la-Sidimu"]·TR["-Siddim'in"]·urd["سدیم-کی"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† שִׂדִּים n.[m.] pl. in n.pr.loc. עֵ֫מֶק הַשּׂ׳ vale of Siddim Gn 14:3 (identif. with Dead Sea), v 8, 10 (= vale of furrows? or (Di after Onk Sam) of fields (= הַשָּׂדִים); 𝔊 ἡ κοιλὰς [φαραγξ] ἡ ἁλυκή; RenanHist. Isr. i. 116; Eng.Tr. i. 98 WeIsr. u. Jüd Gesch. (3) 101 proposes ע׳ הַשֵּׁדִים demon-valley).