ZALMON (zăl'mōn, Heb. tsalmôn, dark)
A Benjamite who was one of David’s mighty men (2Sam.23.28). He is also called “Ilai” (1Chr.11.29), and in both passages “the Ahohite.”A forest near Shechem (Judg.9.48) from which wood was taken by Abimelech in the destruction of Shechem. Its exact identity has not been determined.
ZALMON zăl’ mən (
צַלְמוֹן). 1. An Ahohite, one of David’s
Mighty Men known as the “Thirty” (
2 Sam 23:28); called
Ilai in
1 Chronicles 11:29.
2. A mountain near Shechem where Abimelech and his men cut wood to burn down the stronghold of Baal-berith (Judg 9:48). It has not been identified, but there is reason to think that it was a peak of Gerizim.
3. A region or mountain mentioned in Psalm 68:14 (KJV SALMON) where God apparently scattered enemies of Israel by means of a snowstorm. The passage is obscure, and it is not known precisely what the psalmist has in mind.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)
(tsalmon; Selmon, oros Ermon; the King James Version Salmon (Ps 68:14)):
(1) From the slopes of Mt. Zalmon, Abimelech and his followers gathered the wood with which they burned down "the stronghold of the house of El-berith," which may have been the citadel of Shechem (Jud 9:46). The mountain therefore was not far from the city; but no name resembling this has yet been recovered in Mt. Ephraim. It is just possible that in the modern Arabic name of Mt. Ebal, es-Sulemiyeh, there may be an echo of Zalmon. It is precisely to this mountain, especially to the western slopes, that one would expect Abimelech and his people to go for the purpose in view. The name occurs again in Ps 68:14, a passage of admitted difficulty. Snow in Palestine is mainly associated with Mt. Hermon, where it may be seen nearly all the year round; hence, doubtless the Greek reading "Mt. Hermon" in Judges. But snow is well known among the uplands in winter; and the Psalmist may simply have meant that the kings were scattered like snowflakes in the wind on Mt. Zalmon. We need not therefore look to Bashan or elsewhere for the mountain. The locality is fixed by the narrative in Jgs.
(2) One of David’s heroes (2Sa 23:28).
See Ilai.
