🔼The name Rimmon-perez: Summary
- Meaning
- Pomegranate Of The Breach
- Etymology
- From (1) רמון (rimmon), pomegranate, from רום (rum), to be high, and (2) the verb פרץ (paras), to break through.
🔼The name Rimmon-perez in the Bible
The name Rimmon-perez belongs to one of the stations at which Israel camped during the wilderness years (Numbers 33:19-20). It's situated between Ritmah and Libnah, but that's all we know about it.
🔼Etymology of the name Rimmon-perez
The name Rimmon-perez consists of two elements. The first part probably comes from the common Hebrew word רמון (rimmon), meaning pomegranate:
רום
The verb רום (rum) means to be high or high up in either a physical, social or even attitudinal sense, and may also refer to the apex in a natural process: the being ripe and ready-for-harvest of fruits. Subsequently, our verb may imply a state beyond ripe (higher than ripe, overripe), which thus refers to rotting and being maggot riddled. This means that to the ancients, higher did not simply mean better, and an arrogant political status that was higher than it should be equaled rot and worms (Acts 12:23).
Derived nouns, such as רום (rum) and related forms such as רמה (rama), describe height or pride. Noun רמות (ramut) describes some high thing. The noun ארמון ('armon) refers to a society's apex: a citadel or palace. The noun ראם (re'em) describes the wild ox, which was named possibly for the same reason why we moderns call a rising market a "bull" market. The similar verb ראם (ra'am) means to rise.
The important noun רמון (rimmon) means pomegranate and the pomegranate became the symbol for harvest-ready fruit (see our full dictionary article for more on this). Overripe items might suffer the noun רמה (rimma), worm or maggot, or the verb רמם (ramam), to be wormy.
The second part of our name is as good as the same as the name Perez, which comes from the verb פרץ (paras), meaning to break through:
פרץ
Verb פרץ (paras) means to breach or break, whether through something, out of something or something into pieces. Noun פרץ (peres) means a breach or bursting forth.
🔼Rimmon-perez meaning
For a meaning of the name Rimmon-perez, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Pomegranate Of Breach and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has the similar Pomegranate Of The Breach. BDB Theological Dictionary does not interpret our name but does list it under רמון (rimmon), meaning pomegranate.