Horonaim

Horonaim is a city mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah, in chapter 48 (an oracle against the nation of Moab):

Chapter 48, verse 3:

Listen to the cries from Horonaim,

cries of great havoc and destruction. (NIV)

48:5:

They go up the way to Luhithm

weeping bitterly as they go;

on the road down to Horonaim

anguished cries over the destruction

are heard. (NIV)

48:34:

The sound of their cry rises

from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz,

from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath

Shelishiyah

for even the waters of Nimrim are

dried up. (NIV)

It is also mentioned in the Book of Isaiah, in chapter 15 (another oracle against the nation of Moab):

Chapter 15, verse 5:

My heart cries out for Moab;

his fugitives flee to Zoar,

to Eglath-shelishiyah.

For at the ascent of Luhith

they go up weeping;

on the road to Horonaim

they raise a cry of destruction (NRSV)

Finally, there is some reason to identify Horonaim with the city Horonan, named in the Mesha Stele (lines 31 and 32).

The account appears to refer to the wars of the Moabite king Mesha against the Israelites of the trans-Jordanian land of Gilead.

References