Hamath

(fortress, stronghold) (Num. 13:22; 34:8; Josh. 13:5; Judg. 3:3) — name of a city in Syria, near the northern borders of Palestine, generally identified with the Epiphania of the Greeks. In David’s time it was a royal residence, and its king, Toi, sent gifts to David (2 Sam. 8:10). It formed the boundary of Solomon’s kingdom (1 Kings 8:65), and likewise that of Jeroboam (2 Kings 14:25, 28). Some of its inhabitants were carried away to Samaria by the king of Assyria (2 Kings 17:24); they worshiped the pagan deity Ashima.

Sennacherib took possession of Hamath (2 Kings 18:34; 19:13). This is referred to in the account of the invasion of Pharaoh Necho, at which time the region is already called “the land of Hamath” (23:33), likewise in the account of Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion (25:2) and elsewhere. The prophet Amos (6:14) calls it “Hamath the great.” It is repeatedly mentioned by the prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and others. All this shows that Hamath was a very ancient and important place, a royal residence, whose name was also given to the whole surrounding country subject to it.

The inhabitants of Hamath belonged to the Hamitic race, descendants of Ham, and are included in the book of Genesis (10:18, as “Hamathites”) among the descendants of Canaan. If Hamath is indeed identical with the Epiphania of the Greeks, or the present-day city of Hama, then even in its present state it is still a considerable city, lying in the narrow valley of the river Orontes, on both its banks. A few decades ago it numbered about 30,000 inhabitants, most of them Muslims. The city, however, retains few antiquities and is remarkable chiefly for its great waterwheels, which lift water from the Orontes to the gardens and houses of the upper town.

The dwellings are mostly built of clay and have cone-shaped roofs. The surrounding region was called the granary of northern Syria. Christianity was planted in Hamath in the early centuries after Christ. One of the bishops of Hamath was present at the Council of Nicaea in 325, and, somewhat later, another at the Council of Constantinople in 381. At present there are between two and three thousand Christians in Hamath. The expression “the entrance of Hamath,” frequently met with in Holy Scripture (Judg. 3:3; 2 Kings 14:25), undoubtedly refers to the Bukaa, a narrow pass leading from the land of Canaan into Syria, which, as is well known, forms the northern boundary of Palestine.