Almon Diblathaimah ( he, עַלְמֹן דִּבְלָתָיְמָה) was one of the places the

Israelite The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

s stopped at during

the Exodus The Exodus (Hebrew language, Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the ...

. By the name "Almon Diblathaimah" it is referred to only in Numbers 33:46 and 47, in a list of stopping-points during the Exodus. It is usually considered the same place as Beth-diblathaim of

Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...

48:22, mentioned in the oracle against Moab.". . . apparently the same as Beth-Diblathaim." The suffix- he may be read as a locative, for "Almon toward-Diblathaim," in support of which is the

Mesha Stele The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is a stele dated around 840 BCE containing a significant Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions, Canaanite inscription in the name of King Mesha of Moab (a kingdom located in modern Jordan). Mesha tel ...

's ". ובת . דבלתן , ובת . בעלמען, ''and beth-Diblathan and beth-Baal-M'on''" and Jeremiah's mention of "Beth-diblathaim . . . and beth-M'on". Baal M'on (Baalmon in some versions) is orthographically identical to the "in Almon" of MT Num. 33:46, and the

Peshitta The Peshitta ( syc, ܦܫܺܝܛܬܳܐ ''or'' ') is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition, including the Maronite Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the ...

reads Baal M'on in Numbers 33, which suggests the reading "Baalmon toward-Diblathaim". The

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

agrees that the final he is a locative suffix:

For it was taught: Nehemiah says, "Every word which requires a lamed-prefix .e. 'toward' the Bible ometimes insteadsuffixed a he"; and a teaching of the House of
Ishmael Ishmael ''Ismaḗl''; Classical/Qur'anic Arabic: إِسْمَٰعِيْل; Modern Standard Arabic: إِسْمَاعِيْل ''ʾIsmāʿīl''; la, Ismael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions; and is cons ...
, "As in the case of '' Elim-ah'', '' Mahanaim-ah'', '' Mitzraim-ah'', ''Diblathaim-ah'' . . ."

The

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...

, however, does not transcribe a suffix- he: Γελμὼν Δεβλαθαίμ.

Etymology

Etymologically, the name ''Beit-Diblathaim'' is said to refer to "The House of Dried Figs", or else "The House of two fig-cakes."

References

{{Hebrew-Bible-stub Biblical places Stations of the Exodus