Hormah

The name Hormah is fastened to a hard lesson learned twice. After Israel refused to enter the land, some went up anyway, and the Amalekites and Canaanites “smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah” (Numbers 14:45). Later, when king Arad fought them, Israel vowed to the LORD that they would destroy those cities, and the place was called Hormah. Judges tells how Judah and Simeon gave the name to Zephath. Joshua lists it among towns in the south. The name tells a story both of failure without God’s leading and of victory after prayer.

8 verses

Numbers

Numbers 14:45

Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.

Numbers 21:1

And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.

Numbers 21:2

And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.

Numbers 21:3

And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

Joshua

Joshua 15:30

And Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah,

Joshua 19:4

And Eltolad, and Bethul, and Hormah,

Judges

Judges 1:17

And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.

1 Samuel

1 Samuel 30:30

And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in Chorashan, and to them which were in Athach,

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

Banning; i.e., placing under a “ban,” or devoting to utter destruction. After the manifestation of God’s anger against the Israelites, on account of their rebellion and their murmurings when the spies returned to the camp at Kadesh, in the wilderness of Paran, with an evil report of the land, they quickly repented of their conduct, and presumed to go up “to the head of the mountain,” seeking to enter the Promised Land, but without the presence of the Lord, without the ark of the convenant, and without Moses. The Amalekites and the Canaanites came down and “smote and discomfited them even unto Hormah” (Num. 14:45). This place, or perhaps the watch-tower commanding it, was originally called Zephath (Judg. 1:17), the modern Sebaiteh. Afterwards (Num. 21:1-3) Arad, the king of the Canaanites, at the close of the wanderings, when the Israelites were a second time encamped at Kadesh, “fought against them, and took some of them prisoners.” But Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord utterly to destroy the cities of the Canaanites; they “banned” them, and hence the place was now called Hormah. But this “ban” was not fully executed till the time of Joshua, who finally conquered the king of this district, so that the ancient name Zephath became “Hormah” (Josh. 12:14; Judg. 1:17).

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From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(a place laid waste), or ZEPHATH, (Judges 1:17) was the chief town of a king of a Canaanitish tribe on the south of Palestine, which was reduced by Joshua, and became a city of the territory of Judah, (Joshua 15:30; 1 Samuel 30:30) but apparently belonged to Simeon. (1 Chronicles 4:30)