Deuteronomy 3:9

Deu 3:9. Sirion — Elsewhere called mount Gilead, and Lebanon, and here Shenir, and Sirion, which several names were given to this one mountain, partly by several people, and partly in regard of several tops and parts of it.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3:9 The alternative names Sirion and Senir suggest that Hermon was perhaps a later name given by the Israelites. Hermon is apparently related to the verb kharam, which means “to destroy” (see study note on 2:34), and perhaps describes the destruction summarized in 3:3-7.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Hermon--now Jebel-Es-Sheick--the majestic hill on which the long and elevated range of Anti-Lebanon terminates. Its summit and the ridges on its sides are almost constantly covered with snow. It is not so much one high mountain as a whole cluster of mountain peaks, the highest in Palestine. According to the survey taken by the English Government Engineers in 1840, they were about 9376 feet above the sea. Being a mountain chain, it is no wonder that it should have received different names at different points from the different tribes which lay along the base--all of them designating extraordinary height: Hermon, the lofty peak; "Sirion," or in an abbreviated form "Sion" (Deu 4:48), the upraised, glittering; "Shenir," the glittering breastplate of ice.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 9. Hermon the Sidonians call - Shenir] I suppose this verse to have been a marginal remark, which afterwards got incorporated with the text, or an addition by Joshua or Ezra.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(9) Sirion.—(Sion,Deut.448.) Sirion, or Shirion, and Shenir, are thought to have similar meanings. But the Targum inteprets Shenir as the “rock of snow.” Shirion, according to Gesenius, means “glittering like a breastplate.” It would not be safe to assert that the mention of the Sidonian name of Hermon makes this verse an addition after Israel was in Palestine, though it might be so. The Jewish commentator Rashi points out that, including the name Sion (Deu_4:48), “this mountain has four names. Why mention them? To declare the praise of the land of Israel, which had four kingdoms glorifying themselves in it, and each of them saying, ‘It is called after my name!’” But there are several notes of this kind in the Pentateuch. (See Gen_23:2; Gen_31:47; Num_13:22; also Jos_14:15.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. Archaeological Note. As a natural boundary, separating several nations, Ḥermôn has a name in the language of each. The Phoenicians, Heb. Ṣidonians, on the W. called it Siriôn (cp. Psa_29:6), the Amorites Senîr, its name in an inscription of Salmanassar II, Sanîru, when he crossed from the coast towards Damascus (Winckler, KAT(3)[114], 44, 190). These names may have been applied to different parts of the long Mt; in 1Ch_5:23, Senîr is joined with, but apparently distinct from, Ḥermôn, cp. Eze_27:5, Son_4:8; and Arab, geographers gave the name Jebel Sanîr to the part between Ba‘albeḳ and Ḥoms.

[114] 3) Die Keilinschriften und das AIte Testament, 3rd edition (1903), by H. Zimmern and H. Winckler.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion,.... Which name it has in Psa 29:6 a name the inhabitants of Sidon gave it, but for what reason it is not easy to say; however, that it was well known to Tyre and Sidon, appears from snow in summer time being brought to the former, as will be hereafter observed:

and the Amorites call it Shenir; in whose possession it was last. Bochart (k) thinks it had its name from the multitude of wild cats in it, Shunar in the Chaldee tongue being the name of that creature; but Jarchi says Shenir in the Canaanitish language signifies "snow"; so, in the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, it is called the mountain of snow; and the Hebrew who read to Jerom, and taught him, affirmed to him that this mountain hung over Paneas, from whence snow in summer time was brought to Tyre for pleasure (l), and the same is confirmed by Abulfeda (m). There is said to be upon the top of it a famous temple, which is used for worship by the Heathens, over against Paneas and Lebanon (n); and it is highly probable there was one even at this time, when it was possessed by the Amorites, since it is called Mount Baalhermon, Jdg 3:3, from the worship of Baal, or some other idol upon it, as it should seem. Besides these, it had another name, Mount Sion, Deu 4:48 but to be distinguished from Mount Zion near Jerusalem. The names of it in this place are very differently interpreted by Hillerus (o); though he thinks it had them all on account of the snow on it, which was as a net all over it; for Hermon, he observes, signifies a net, a dragnet, and Shenir an apron, and Sirion a coat of mail, all from the covering of this mount with snow.

(k) Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 3. c. 14. col. 865. (l) De loc. Heb. fol. 88. B, C. (m) Apud Reland. Palestin. Illustrat. par. 2. p. 920. (n) De loc. Heb. fol. 88. B, C. (o) Onomastic. Sacr. p. 561, 562, 786, 929.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Hermon, the southern and culminating point of the range of Lebanon, was also the religious center of primaeval Syria. Its Baal sanctuaries not only existed but gave it a name before the Exodus. Hence, the careful specification of the various names by which the mountain was known. The Sidonian name of it might easily have become known to Moses through the constant traffic which had gone on from the most ancient times between Sidon and Egypt.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Elsewhere called Mount Gilead, and Libanus or Lebanon, and here

Shenir, and Sirion, and, by abbreviation, Sion, Deu 4:48; which several names are given to this one mountain, partly by several people, and partly in regard of several tops and parts of it, whence

Shenir and Hermon are mentioned as distinct places, Son 4:8.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Sirion - Elsewhere called Mount Gilead, and Lebanon, and here Shenir, and Sirion, which several names are given to this one mountain partly by several people, and partly in regard of several tops and parts of it.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

צידנים יקראו לחרמון וגו׳ THE SIDONIANS CALL HERMON SIRION — But in another passage it states, (Deuteronomy 4:48) “Even unto Mount Sion which is Hermon”. So you see it had four names. And why had they all to be written in Scripture? To tell the praise of the land of Israel: that there were four kingdoms (kings) priding themselves in this — one saying, "After me shall it be named", and another saying, "After me shall it be named" (Sifrei Devarim 37:10; cf. Chullin 60b).

שניר SHENIR — This signifies "snow" in the German language (Schnee) and in the Canaanite (Slav) language (Snih).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

HERMON, THE SIDONIANS CALL SIRION, [AND THE AMORITES CALL IT SENIR]. “But in another place Scripture states, even unto Mount Sion which is Hermon. Thus you see that the mountain has four names [Hermon, Sirion, Senir and Sion. Scripture’s reference to this multiplicity of names is] to tell the praise of the Land of Israel because there were four kingdoms priding themselves in this; this one saying ‘After me shall it be called,’ and another saying, ‘After me shall it be called.’” This is Rashi’s language from the words of Agadah. It is indeed possible that this praise [that four nations were vying for this mountain] is correct but the main purport of the verse is to state that the Sidonians, children of Canaan’s firstborn, called Mount Hermon “Sirion” when it was formerly in their possession; and the Amorites, who now dwelled there and from whom Israel was to capture it, called it “Senir.” [Senir] is a Canaanite word for “snow,” as Rashi testified about it, and as Onkelos also rendered it, [“mountain of snow”]. And because it is a mountain of snow, also on account of its frigid temperature causing it to be bleak [and unapproachable], it is called Hermon [from the word cherem — “banned”], this being a surname of the mountain. Perhaps the name “Sirion” in the Sidonian language indicates this characteristic while the real name of the mountain [as mentioned by the Torah further on] is Sion. The verse stating, from the top of Senir and Hermon [which would seem to indicate that these were two separate mountains], really refers to two surnames of the [same] mountain and thus means “from the top of the snow and the bleakness,” or it may mean “from the top of Senir and from the whole mountain.” Similarly, that which is stated in the Book of Chronicles, And the children of the half-tribe of Menasheh dwelt in the land, from Bashan unto Baal-hermon and Senir and Mount Hermon where they increased also means “and Senir and the whole mountain which is Mount Hermon.” Baal-hermon, however, was a city or a tower which they called “Baal,” or perhaps it was the name of one of the Baal-idols that was worshipped there.It is possible that after Israel was in the Land, names of places were somewhat changed; this mountain was large — and they called the highest part of its summit Senir, and the second part thereof they called Hermon. Or they may be other mountains which people after the [period of the] Torah called by these names [Senir, Hermon — and they really represent two separate mountains, but the names mentioned in the Torah indicate different names of but one mountain, as explained above]. There are many cases like this. So also, and the Hermons from the hill Mizar [would indicate that there were other mountains by the name of Hermon, for otherwise we have no explanation why they called “the Hermons,” in the plural].

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.