Rimmon
/ˈrɪm.ən/noun
Rimmon is a biblical name for a Syrian deity and for several biblical places, probably associated with the Semitic word for “pomegranate.”
Did you know?In 2 Kings 5:18, the Syrian official Naaman refers to entering the temple of Rimmon, preserving one of the Bible’s rare references to a non-Israelite god by name.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*rummān-
“Probable ancestral term for the pomegranate; the exact relationship to the divine name remains debated.”
2nd Millennium BCE
Akkadian
Rammānu
“A name or epithet connected with the Mesopotamian storm god, later associated with the West Semitic storm-god tradition.”
Iron Age
Northwest Semitic
Rimmon
“A divine name, probably linked by later tradition to the pomegranate and to a storm deity.”
6th–5th Century BCE
Biblical Hebrew
רִמּוֹן, Rimmōn
“Rimmon, the deity mentioned in 2 Kings 5:18; the same form also denotes a pomegranate and appears in place names.”
2nd–1st Century BCE
Greek
Remman
“A Greek-script rendering of the Syrian deity’s name in ancient translations and related traditions.”
Modern English
English
Rimmon
“A biblical proper name referring chiefly to the Syrian god, biblical locations, or people bearing the name.”