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רָמָה

Ramah

BDB lists 7 entries for ‘Ramah’ fuller range ↓

H7414 Strong's Hebrew
Râmâh Transliteration
/raw-maw'/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 36 appearances

Compare with another word →

About this entry

At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.

רמה — transliterated Râmâh — is a Hebrew name carrying the sense “Ramah.” Debuting at Joshua 18:25, it then recurs through the corpus. It appears 34 verses across 11 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its moderately common vocabulary. More than a third of its appearances fall in 1 Samuel. See 34-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
Ramah
Modern gloss
Ramah
Strong's 1890 agrees
Strong's 1890 and current BDB scholarship align on this entry's primary sense — a good signal that the gloss above is unambiguous and stable. Download share card

About this word

Strong's H7414 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.

These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →

34
distinct verses
The word appears in 34 distinct verses.
11 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 11 of 39 Old Testament books.
Joshua 18:25
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in Joshua 18:25.
Hosea 5:8
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Hosea 5:8.
#990
by frequency
Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 990 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 34 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 0 · 0%
  • Historical 30 · 88%
  • Wisdom 0 · 0%
  • Prophets 4 · 12%

By traditional corpus

Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 34 distinct verses.

  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 27 verses · 79%
  • Writings (Ketuvim) 7 verses · 21%

How translations render this word

Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).

BDB lists this Strong’s number as 5 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.

  • King James Version: Ramah 32×
  • American Standard Version: Ramah 31×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Ramah 35×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: Ramah 31×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H7414 across 37 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Ramah” 32×

Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

American Standard Version Public Domain

Renders H7414 across 37 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Ramah” 31×

Plus 6 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

Berean Standard Bible Public Domain

Renders H7414 across 36 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Ramah” 35×

Plus 1 rendering that appears only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H7414 across 34 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Ramah” 31×

Plus 3 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.


7 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB

Hebrew verbs can shift meaning by stem (binyan): Qal is the basic action, Niphal is often passive or reflexive, Piel often intensifies or makes it factitive, and Hiphil is typically causative. The senses below are grouped under the stem BDB assigns to each.

What do BDB’s symbols mean?

BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:

Symbol Meaning
𝔊 the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX)
𝔙 the Vulgate (the Latin translation)
𝔖 the Syriac version (the Peshitta)
𝔗 the Targum (the Aramaic translation)
ψ the Psalms
√ root (the underlying root or stem)
‖ parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel)
† the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited

The 7 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.

רמה I height, high-place

רמה II loc. usually c. art. הָר׳ the Height, Rama, הָרָמָה (except Je 31

  • 1. in Benj., on border of Ephr., Ho 5:8; 1 K 15:17, 21, 22 = 2 Ch 16:1, 5, 6; Ju 4:5; 19:3; Is 10:29; Je 31:15; 40:1; Jos 18:25 (P), Ezr 2:26 = Ne 7:30, prob. also Ne 11:33; 𝔊 usually Ραμα; mod. er-Râm, 5 miles N. of Jerus., BuhlGeogr. 172. e.g. Hosea 5:8
  • 2. in hill-country of Ephr. (= 1?), home of Samuel 1 S 1:19; 2:11; 7:17; 8:4; 15:34; 16:13; 19:18, 22a (all c. ה loc., הָרָמָ֫תָה), v 19, 22b, 23(×2); 20:1; 25:1; 28:3, = הָרָמָתַיִם 1:1 (v. צוּפִי); 𝔊 Αρμαθαιμ, Ραμα; perhaps (if distinct from 1) = Beit-Rima, 13 miles ENE. of Lydda (GASmGeogr. 254 BuhlGeogr. 170); or Râm-allah, 3 m. SW. of Bethel (EwHist. ii. 421 al.) [cf. also Ἀριμαθαία Mt 27:57 +]. e.g. 1 Samuel 1:19
  • 3. in Asher Jos 19:29 (P), Ραμα; perhaps Râmiye, c. 12 miles E. of Ladder of Tyre RobBR iii. 79 BuhlGeogr. 231. e.g. Joshua 19:29
  • 4. in Naphtali, Jos 19:36 (P), Αραηλ, A 𝔊L Ραμα; mod. Râmeh, c. 8 miles WSW. of Safed BuhlGeogr. 222. e.g. Joshua 19:36
  • 5. (בָּ)רָמָה 2 K 8:29 = 2 Ch 22:6 (Ρεμμωθ, Ραμωθ; 𝔊L Ραμαθ Γαλ.), v. רָמוֹת 1—Vid. Dr Hast. DB. RAMAH. e.g. 2 Kings 8:29

רמה III loc. הָר׳ 1 S 1

רמה IV cast, shoot (Assyrian ramû, throw, lay

Qal

  • Pf. 3 ms. ר׳, subj. י׳ Ex 15:1, 21 (song), c. acc. + בַּיָּם; Pt. רֹמֵה קֶשֶׁת Je 4:29 coll. (or read רֹמֵי) bow-shooters, bowmen, pl. cstr. נוֹשְׁקֵי רוֹמֵי־ק׳ ψ 78:9 (v. II. נשׁק); cf. רֹבֵה Gn 21:20 (v. II. רבה, קַשָּׁת). e.g. Exodus 15:1

רמה V

Piel

  • beguile, deal treacherously with (NH in deriv.; 𝔗 רְמָא Pa.; BuhlLex cp. Arabic رَمَى vi. be sluggish, backward (of wound), become putrid, corrupt);—Pf. 3 ms. רִמָּה Pr 26:19, sf. רִמָּנִי 2 S 19:27; 2 ms. sf. רִמִּיתָנִי Gn 29:25 1 S 28:12; 2 fs. sf. רִמִּיתִנִי 19:17, etc.; Inf. cstr. sf. לְרַמּוֹתַנִי 1 Ch 12:18 (van d. H. v 17);—beguile, deceive, mislead, acc. pers., Gn 29:25 (E), Jos 9:22 (JE), 1 S 28:12; 2 S 19:27; Pr 26:19; deal treacherously with, betray, acc. pers., 1 S 19:17 La 1:19, + לְצָרַי 1 Ch 12:17. e.g. Proverbs 26:19

Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.


Word origin

I. n.f. height, high-place;—abs. ר׳ as term. techn. (cf. בָּמָה), = shrine (for illicit worship): Ez 16:25; ‖ גַּב v 24, 31, 39; so perhaps 1 S 22:6, but read prob. בָּמָה, 𝔊 Βαμα (A Ραμμα), HPS.

II. n.pr.loc. usually c. art. הָר׳ the Height, Rama, הָרָמָה (except Je 31:15 Ne 11:33):

III. vb. cast, shoot (Assyrian ramû, throw, lay; Arabic رَمَى throw, shoot; Ethiopic ረመየ: strike, aim a blow at; Aramaic רְמָא, ܪܡܳܐ cast, throw);—

— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.

Derived from רמה (râmâh) (H7413) — high place.

Part of speech: Proper Name Location


Jastrow Dictionary

A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.

רָמָה I

  • 1. high, v. רָם.
  • 2. height.—Pl. רָמוֹת. Meg. 14ᵃ, v. צָפָה.

רָמָה II

  • , v. רמי

רִמָּה

  • רמם to move; cmp. רחש a. deriv.) worm, esp. the worm in man’s grave. Ber. 18ᵇ קשׁה ר׳ למת וכ׳ the worm is as painful to the dead body as a needle in sound flesh. Sot. 5ᵃ (play on בֹשרֹ) ב̇ושה סֹרוחה ר̇ basar (flesh) suggests ‘shame’, ‘putrefied’, ‘worm’. B. Mets. 83ᵇ אין ר׳ ותולעה וכ׳ no worm of any kind shall have power over you. Ab. IV, 4 תקות אנוש ר׳ the prospects of man are worms. Koh. R. to V, 10 הרי הוא לר׳ ותולעה he is (food) for worms; a. fr.—Pesik. Vayhi, p. 93ᵇ (in Chald. dict.) דהדין גופא אזל לר׳ that this (my) body must go to the worms; Koh. R. to XI, 2 לאדמה (corr. acc.); ib. ברם ר׳ לית וכ׳ but worms shall have no power over me except &c.

רמי

  • (b. h.) [to move,] to throw, swing. Mekh. B’shall., Shir., s. 2 (ref. to Ex. XV, 1 a. 4) ר׳ שהיו עולין למרום וכ׳ ramah means that they were hurled upward, yarah, that they were thrown down the deep. e.g. Exodus 15:1
    • to impose upon, deceive; to be cunning. Y. Hor. III, 48ᵃ bot. (he was no deceiver) אלא שהיה מְרַמֶּה במצות but he was cunning in charitable deeds (waited until others had subscribed, and then gave as much as all of them combined); Deut. R. s. 4; Tanḥ. R’eh 5. Gen. R. s. 85 אתה רִמִּיתָ באביך בגדי … שתמר מְרַמָּה בך וכ׳ thou (Judah) didst deceive thy father by means of a kid (Gen. XXXVII, 31); by thy life! Tamar shall deceive thee through a kid (ib. XXXVIII, 20); Yalk. ib. 145 לאביך … לך; a. e.—Part. pass. מְרוּמֶּה. Snh. 32ᵇ, a. e. דין מ׳, v. דִּין II e.g. Genesis 37:31

A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.


Forms in the corpus

The 24 distinct written forms H7414 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.

Form Parsing Example Uses
בָּ/רָמָ֑ה Noun, Proper 1 Samuel 19:23 4
בָּ/רָמָֽה Noun, Proper 1 Samuel 19:19 3
הָ/רָמָ֑ה Noun, Proper 1 Kings 15:17 3
הָֽ/רָמָה֙ Noun, Proper 1 Kings 15:22 3
הָ/רָמָ֑תָ/ה Noun, Proper 1 Samuel 1:19 2
הָ/רָמָֽתָ/ה Noun, Proper 1 Samuel 8:4 2
הָֽ/רָמָ֔ה Noun, Proper Isaiah 10:29 2
בָ/רָמָ֖ה Noun, Proper 1 Samuel 28:3 1
בָ/רָמָֽה Noun, Proper Judges 19:13 1
בָֽ/רָמָ֔ה Noun, Proper 2 Chronicles 22:6 1
בְּ/רָמָ֤ה Noun, Proper Jeremiah 31:15 1
בָּֽ/רָמָ֔ה Noun, Proper 2 Kings 8:29 1
הָ/רָמָ֔תָ/ה Noun, Proper 1 Samuel 19:18 1
הָ/רָמָ֖תָ/ה Noun, Proper 1 Samuel 2:11 1
הָ/רָמָ֗תָ/ה Noun, Proper 1 Samuel 19:22 1
הָ/רָמָ֛ה Noun, Proper Judges 4:5 1
הָ/רָמָ֨תָ/ה֙ Noun, Proper 1 Samuel 7:17 1
הָ/רָמָה֙ Noun, Proper Ezra 2:26 1
הָֽ/רָמָ֑ה Noun, Proper Jeremiah 40:1 1
הָֽ/רָמָ֑ה Noun, Proper 1 Kings 15:21 1
וְ/הָ/רָמָ֖ה Noun, Proper Joshua 19:36 1
וְ/הָֽ/רָמָ֖ה Noun, Proper Joshua 18:25 1
רָ֣אמַת Noun, Proper Joshua 19:8 1
רָמָ֖ה Noun, Proper Nehemiah 11:33 1

Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H7414, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.

Derives from

Proper names from this root

People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.

Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 10 — not the complete family. 8 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.


Bible dictionary

Public-domain dictionary articles matched to this entry by name (Ramah). A biblical name can be shared by more than one person or place, so an article may treat several.

Smith's Bible Dictionary · William Smith, 1863

(a hill). This is the name of several places in the holy land.

+ One of the cities of the allotment of Benjamin. (Joshua 18:25) Its site is at er-Ram, about five miles from Jerusalem, and near to Gibeah. (Judges 4:5; 19:13; 1 Samuel 22:6) Its people returned after the captivity. (Ezra 2:26; Nehemiah 7:30) + The home of Elkanah, Samuel's father, (1 Samuel 1:19; 2:11) the birthplace of Samuel himself, his home and official residence, the site of his altar ch. (1 Samuel 7:17; 8:4; 15:34; 16:13; 19:18) and finally his burial-place, ch. (1 Samuel 25:1; 28:3) It is a contracted form of Ramathaim-zophim. All that is directly said as to its situation is that it was in Mount Ephraim, (1 Samuel 1:1) a district without defined boundaries, The position of Ramah is a much-disputed question. Tradition, however places the residence of Samuel on the lofty and remarkable eminence of Neby Samwil which rises four miles to the northwest of Jerusalem. Since the days of Arcult the tradition appears to have been continuous. Here, then, we are inclined in the present state of the evidence, to place the Ramah of Samuel. + One of the nineteen fortified places of Naphtali. (Joshua 19:36) Dr. Robinson has discovered a Rameh northwest of the Sea of Galilee, about 8 miles east-south-east of Safed. + One of the landmarks on the boundary of Asher, (Joshua 19:29) apparently between Tyre and Zidon. Some place it 3 miles east of Tyre, others 10 miles off and east-southeast of the same city. + By this name in (2 Kings 8:29) and 2Chr 22:6 only, is designated Ramoth-gilead. + A place mentioned in the catalogue of those reinhabited by the Benjamites after their return from the captivity. (Nehemiah 11:33)

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary · Roswell D. Hitchcock, 1869

same as Ram

Classic public-domain reference works; full attribution on Sources.


Septuagint verse parallels

This word appears in 32 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 34 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.

Read these verses in the Septuagint

This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.

Reading settings

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Old Testament
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