RIMMON (rim'mon), (Heb. pr, rim-mane', pomegranate).
1. A tree mentioned in numerous places in the Old Testament, and universally acknowledged to denote the Pomegranate-tree and fruit, being de scribed in the works of the Arabs by the name rooman. The pomegranate is a native of Asia; and we may trace it from Syria, through Persia, even to the mountains of Northern India. It is common in Northern Africa, and was early culti vated in Egypt ; hence the Israelites in the desert complain (Num. xx :5), 'It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates.' Being common in Syria and Persia, it must have early attracted the attention of Eastern nations. In the present day it is highly valued, and travelers de scribe the pomegranate as being delicious through out Persia.
The pulpy grains of this fruit are sometimes eaten by themselves, sometimes sprinkled with sugar; at other times the juice is pressed out and made into wine, or one of the esteemed sherbets of the East. This seems also to have been the custom in ancient times, for it is said in Canticles, viii :2, 'I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate.' The beauty of the fruit when bursting and displaying the delicate colors of the pulpy grains, seems to be referred to in the following passage of the same book (vi: 7), 'As a piece of pomegranate are thy cheeks (temples) within thy locks ;' so also the beauty of the flower-beds when first opening made it an ob ject of attraction (vi:t I), 'I went into the garden of nuts, etc., to see whether the pomegranates budded ;' and again in vii . Being valued as a fruit, and admired as a flower, it was to be expect ed that it should be cultivated in gardens and orchards; and to this several passages refer, as Canticles iv:13. In other places it is enumerated with the more valued and cultivated trees of the country, such as the vine, the fig-tree, the palm tree, and the olive, as in Joel i:12; Hag. xi:i9. The pomegranate is not likely to have been a na tive of Egypt ; it must, however, have been culti vated there at a very early period, as the Israelites, when in the desert, lamented the loss of its fruit. That it was produced in Palestine during the same early ages is evident, by the spies bring ing some back when sent into Canaan to see what kind of a land it was; for we are told that they 'came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, etc., and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.' ( See POMEGRANATE.) J. F. R.
2. A city of the tribe of Simeon, in the south of Palestine (Josh. xv :32; xix :7 ; i Chron. iv :32; Zech. xiv :to). It is identified with the village Unier-Rumanim ("mother of pomegranates"), about thirteen miles south of Eleutheropolis.
3. A town on a high conical chalky rock or peak, northeast of Gibeah and Michniash, near the desert (Judg. xx :45, 47; xxi :13). Here boo van quished Benjamites took refuge for four months. The Onomasacon places it fifteen miles north in Jerusalem, which corresponds to the situation of this rock, which is still crowned by a village bear ing the name of Rummon (see Robinson's Pales tine, ii :113) . Some suppose this the Rimmon men tioned in i Sam. xiv :2.
4. A city of Zebulun (Josh. xix :13; I Chron. vi: 77; Zech. xiv:to). Metlioar in A. V. of Josh. xix :13 is improperly regarded as part of the name; whereas it describes the boundary as "stretching" to Neah. The name of the town is preserved in Rummaneh, a village six miles north, slightly east of Nazareth.
5. A station of the Israelites after leaving Sinai (Num. xxxiii:t9). (See RIMMON-PAREZ.) 6. A Benjamite of Beeroth; the father of Rechab and Baanah (2 Sam. iv :2, 5, 9), B. C. be fore 1053.
7. An idol worshiped by the Syrians (2 Kings v :18). As this name is found nowhere but in the Bible, and there only in the present text, nothing positive can be affirmed concerning the power it symbolized. If it be referred to the pomegranate, we may suppose that the fruit had become the symbol of some mysterious powers in nature. But many commentators entitled to respect, as Le Clerc, Selden, Vitringa, and Rosenmiiller, would rather seek the signification of the word ramam, 'the exalted ;' in which case we may take it to have been a name of eminence applied to the sun, or rather to some idol under which the sun was rep resented. He was numbered among the twelve great deities. He was the god of rain and storm, lightning and thunder. Sometimes lie was dreaded as the destroyer of crops and the scatterer of the harvest, and at others was adored as the lord of fecundity. He was identical with Hadad, the su preme god of the Syrians. The two names are combined in HADAD-RIMMON.
-meth'o-ar ), ( Heb. '1 :1 rn, rim-mane' ham-melh-a-awr', the one marked off, Rimmon the extensive), one of the landmarks of the eastern boundary of Zebu lun (Josh. xix:13. In A. V. "Remmon.")