H8149 H8149
Senir; Amorite name for (all or part of) Mount Hermon, source of cypress timber and associated with northern borders
This is the Amorite name for Mount Hermon, or possibly its northern peaks. Deuteronomy 3:9 explains that 'the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, but the Amorites call it Senir,' preserving alternate regional names for the mountain. Song of Songs 4:8 poetically invokes 'from the peak of Senir and Hermon' as remote, wild heights. 1 Chronicles 5:23 uses it as a geographical boundary marker. Ezekiel 27:5 mentions that Tyre's shipbuilders used cypress from Senir to make ship planks. The multilingual glosses transliterate consistently (Spanish/French/German Senir). This regional toponym reflects the multi-ethnic geography of ancient Syria-Palestine, where mountains bore different names in different languages—Phoenician, Amorite, Israelite—each group claiming its own relationship to the landscape.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Amorite name for Mount Hermon or its northern peaks (Deut 3:9 explains the different regional names). Used as northern boundary marker (1 Chr 5:23), poetic image of remote heights (Song 4:8), and source of cypress timber for Phoenician shipbuilding (Ezek 27:5). The preservation of this Amorite toponym in Hebrew scripture reflects the multilingual, multi-ethnic reality of the ancient Near East, where the same mountain bore different names depending on who was speaking. 4×
AR["سَنِيرَ", "سْنِير", "مِنْ-سَنِيرَ", "وَ-سَنير"]·ben["-সনীরের", "ও-সনীর", "সনীর", "সনীর-থেকে"]·DE["Senir", "[ושניר]", "[משניר]", "[שניר]"]·EN["Senir", "and-Senir", "from-Senir"]·FR["Schinéar", "Senir", "[ושניר]", "de-Senir"]·heb["ו-שניר", "מ-שניר", "שניר"]·HI["-सनीर-से", "और-सनीर", "सेनीर"]·ID["Senir", "dan-Senir", "dari-Senir"]·IT["Senir", "[ושניר]", "[משניר]"]·jav["Sénir", "lan-Sénir", "saking-Sènir"]·KO["그-와-스닐", "스니르에서-", "스닐-의", "스닐이라"]·PT["Senir", "de-Senir", "e-Senir"]·RU["Сенир", "Сенира", "и-Сенира", "из-Сенира"]·ES["Senir", "de-Senir", "y-Senir"]·SW["Seniri", "cha-Seniri", "kutoka-Seniri", "na-Seniri"]·TR["Senir", "Senir'den", "Senir'in", "ve-Senir'e"]·urd["اور-سنیر", "سنیر", "سے-سنیر"]
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
† שְׂנִיר n.pr.mont. Σανειρ: Amorite name of Ḥermon Dt 3:9, whence came cypress-trees Ez 27:5, prob. northern peak(s) of Ḥ. 1 Ch 5:23 Ct 4:8 (where + חֶרְמוֹן); so Arabic سنير, Abulfed. Par. 68, Syriac ܣܢܺܝܪ, Ecclus 24:13 al., Assyrian Saniru COT Dt 3:9 DlPa 104. Vid. also Dr Dt 3:9 BuhlGeogr. 110 f. and reff. [van d. H. erron. שׁ׳ Dt Ct].