Jarmuth

Jarmuth names two unrelated towns in the Old Testament: a fortified Amorite city in the Judahite Shephelah whose king joins the southern coalition against Gibeon, and a Levitical town in the territory of Issachar assigned to the Gershonite clan.

A Royal City of the Shephelah

The first Jarmuth surfaces in the southern campaign of Joshua. When the Gibeonites secure a treaty with Israel, Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem rallies four neighboring Amorite kings against them, including "Piram king of Jarmuth" (Jos 10:3). The five kings march together: "the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped against Gibeon, and made war against it" (Jos 10:5).

After the rout that follows, the same five are taken from their hiding place at Makkedah: "they... brought forth those five kings to him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon" (Jos 10:23). Joshua's roster of conquered kings preserves the line "the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one" (Jos 12:11).

When the territory of Judah is divided, Jarmuth appears in the Shephelah town list alongside other familiar Philistine-frontier sites: "Jarmuth, and Adullam, Socoh, and Azekah" (Jos 15:35). Centuries later, after the return from exile, Jarmuth is among the Judahite settlements re-occupied: "and in En-rimmon, and in Zorah, and in Jarmuth" (Ne 11:29).

A Levitical City in Issachar

The second Jarmuth lies far to the north, in the tribal allotment of Issachar, and is assigned to the Levites of Gershon: "Jarmuth with its suburbs, En-gannim with its suburbs; four cities" (Jos 21:29). The reference is brief and is the only direct mention of this northern Jarmuth in the UPDV.