Zephath, later called Hormah, was a Canaanite city that Israel failed to capture but was later defeated by Judah and Simeon .
Also known as Hormah
Zephath, later renamed Hormah, was a Canaanite city located in the Negev desert region. During the Israelites' wanderings in the wilderness, they attempted to enter Canaan from the south, but the king of Arad fought against them and took some prisoners. Israel vowed to totally destroy the Canaanite cities if God would give them victory. God granted their request, and the Israelites "utterly destroyed" the Canaanites and named the place Hormah, meaning "destruction" (Num.21.1-3).
However, Israel later refused to enter Canaan from Kadesh Barnea out of unbelief. When they then presumptuously tried to go up, the Amalekites and Canaanites defeated them as far as Hormah (Num.14.45; Dt.1:44). Much later, after Joshua's conquests, Judah and Simeon fought against Zephath, defeated it, and renamed it Hormah (Jdg.1.17). The city is subsequently listed among the towns in the Negev allotted to Judah and Simeon (Jos.15.30; 19:4; 1Ch.4.30). David later sent some of the spoils from his victory over the Amalekites to his friends in Hormah (1Sa.30.30). The exact location is uncertain but it was likely somewhere south of the Dead Sea.
Approximate location: 30.881, 34.631 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
Beacon; watch-tower, a Canaanite town; called also Hormah (q.v.), Judg. 1:17. It has been identified with the pass of es-Sufah, but with greater probability with S’beita.
(watch-tower), the earlier name, (Judges 1:17) of a Canaanite town, which after its capture and destruction was called by the Israelites Hormah. [Hormah]
which beholds; that attends or that covers
ZE'PHATH (watch-tower), a city and tower in the mountains of the Amorites, near Kadesh, Judg 1:17; identified by Palmer and Drake with the ruins of a city called Sebaitah, in the midst of a fertile plain. It was the same as Hormah, which see.
ZE'PHATH (watch-tower), a city and tower in the mountains of the Amorites, near Kadesh, Judg 1:17; identified by Palmer and Drake with the ruins of a city called Sebaitah, in the midst of a fertile plain. It was the same as Hormah, which see.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
9 verses in 6 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H6857
Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them all the way to Hormah.
And the LORD heard Israelʼs plea and delivered up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction; so they named the place Hormah.
Then the Amorites who lived in the hills came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Seir all the way to Hormah.
the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;
Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah,
Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah,
Then the men of Judah went with their brothers the Simeonites, attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and devoted the city to destruction. So it was called Hormah.
to those in Hormah, Bor-ashan, and Athach;
Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag,
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.