Topical Bible: Hamlets

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Topical Encyclopedia

In biblical times, the term "hamlet" refers to a small settlement or village, often smaller than a town. These communities were typically rural and agrarian, consisting of a few families who lived and worked together. Hamlets were common in ancient Israel and throughout the regions described in the Bible, serving as the basic unit of settlement in the countryside.

Biblical References and Context

While the specific term "hamlet" is not directly used in most English translations of the Bible, the concept is present in the descriptions of rural life and settlements. The Bible often refers to "villages" or "small towns," which can be understood as hamlets. For example, in the Book of Joshua, the land distribution among the tribes of Israel includes numerous references to towns and their surrounding villages: "The towns of the tribe of Benjamin, according to their clans, were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, Kephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve towns, along with their villages" (Joshua 18:21-24).

Hamlets were often situated near essential resources such as water sources, fertile land, and trade routes. They were typically composed of simple dwellings made from local materials like mud bricks, stone, and wood. The inhabitants of these hamlets engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry, and sometimes small-scale trade.

Cultural and Social Aspects

The social structure of hamlets was closely knit, with families and extended kinship groups forming the core of the community. The patriarchal system prevalent in ancient Israel meant that family heads, usually the eldest male, held significant authority and responsibility for the welfare of the hamlet. The Book of Ruth provides a glimpse into the life of a small rural community, highlighting the importance of family ties, land ownership, and agricultural practices.

Religious life in hamlets was centered around the family and community. While larger towns and cities had established places of worship, such as synagogues or temples, hamlets often relied on household altars and family-led worship. The observance of religious festivals and the Sabbath would have been integral to the community's rhythm, as seen in the instructions given in the Torah.

Economic Activities

The economy of a hamlet was primarily based on subsistence agriculture. Families grew crops such as wheat, barley, olives, and grapes, and raised livestock including sheep, goats, and cattle. The biblical narrative often reflects the agricultural cycle, with references to sowing, reaping, and harvest festivals. For instance, the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot, was a time of thanksgiving for the wheat harvest, as described in Leviticus 23:15-21.

Trade, though limited, was also a part of hamlet life. Residents might travel to nearby towns or cities to exchange goods, as seen in the account of Joseph's brothers who went to Egypt to buy grain during a famine (Genesis 42:1-3).

Significance in Biblical Narrative

Hamlets play a significant role in the biblical narrative as the backdrop for many accounts and teachings. They represent the humble and faithful life of the Israelites, emphasizing themes of community, family, and reliance on God. The prophet Micah speaks to the rural dwellers, calling them to live justly and walk humbly with God: "He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8).

In summary, while the Bible does not explicitly use the term "hamlet," the concept is woven throughout the text, illustrating the simple, agrarian lifestyle of ancient Israel and the surrounding regions. These small communities were foundational to the social, economic, and religious life of the biblical world.

Strong's Hebrew

2334. Chavvoth Yair -- "tent villages of Jair," an area East of ...
... Bashan, Havoth-jair. From the plural of chavvah and a modification of Ya'uwr; hamlets
of Jair, a region of Palestine -- (Bashan-)Havoth-jair. see HEBREW chavvah ...
/hebrew/2334.htm - 6k

Library

St. Malachy's Apostolic Labours, Praises and Miracles.
... In fine, from the cities and castles and hamlets they ran to meet him, and wherever
he turned he was received with the joy of the whole land.[579] But honour ...
/.../chapter vi st malachys apostolic.htm

The Rock of Castello.
... When the poor peasants were persecuted by their foes, their cottages and hamlets
plundered, their loved sanctuaries burnt with fire, and "all their pleasant ...
/.../macduff/the cities of refuge or the name of jesus/the rock of castello.htm

Trinidad
... The shore was low and uninhabited: but the country rose in the interior, and was
cultivated in many places, and enlivened by hamlets and scattered habitations. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/kingsley/at last/chapter iii trinidad.htm

The Blossoming Desert.
... among the shopkeepers and boatmen of Amoy, from cities and towns along the arms
of the sea and up the inland rivers, from remote country hamlets beyond the ...
/.../fagg/forty years in south china/vii the blossoming desert.htm

Kumaon.
... for cultivation, these terraces, some very narrow and others of considerable width,
rise one above the other to the distance of miles, with the hamlets of the ...
/.../kennedy/life and work in benares and kumaon 1839-1877/chapter xx kumaon.htm

The Angel of Death
... dusky landscape. The lights winked out over Goshen and the hamlets were
not visible except as Kenkenes came upon them. The shepherd ...
//christianbookshelf.org/miller/the yoke/chapter xli the angel of.htm

Evening Hymn.
... It is, to the scattered hamlets of Chios and Mitylene, what Bishop Ken's Evening
Hymn is to the villages of our own land; and its melody singularly plaintive ...
//christianbookshelf.org/neale/hymns of the eastern church/evening hymn.htm

To the Rev. A. Brandram
... at] about a league's distance; and if it please the Lord to permit me to succeed
there, it is my intention to proceed to all those villages or hamlets in the ...
/.../borrow/letters of george borrow/to the rev a brandram 55.htm

The Cavils of the Pharisees Concerning Purification, and the ...
... By the testimony both of Josephus and the Rabbis, the shores of Gennesaret were
thickly studded with little towns, villages, and hamlets, which have all ...
/.../the life and times of jesus the messiah/chapter xxxi the cavils of.htm

Preface to the Book on the Sites and Names of Hebrew Places.
... this little work, of which the design is to gather for us out of the Holy Scriptures
the names of almost all the cities, mountains, rivers, hamlets, and other ...
/.../jerome/the principal works of st jerome/preface to the book on 2.htm

Thesaurus

Hamlets (38 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Hamlets (38 Occurrences). ... (DBY). Numbers 32:41 And Jair
the son of Manasseh went and took their hamlets, and called them Havoth-Jair. ...
/h/hamlets.htm - 16k

Dependent (35 Occurrences)
... sin in you. (BBE). Joshua 15:45 Ekron and its dependent villages and its
hamlets. (DBY). Joshua 15:47 Ashdod, its dependent villages ...
/d/dependent.htm - 17k

Gazah (16 Occurrences)
... (DBY). Deuteronomy 2:23 And the Avvites who dwelt in the hamlets as far as Gazah
the Caphtorim, who came out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead ...
/g/gazah.htm - 11k

Kirjath-arba (8 Occurrences)
... And the land rested from war. (DBY WBS YLT). Joshua 15:54 and Humtah, and
Kirjath-Arba, that is, Hebron, and Zior: nine cities and their hamlets. (DBY WBS ...
/k/kirjath-arba.htm - 9k

Torrent (49 Occurrences)
... Joshua 15:47 Ashdod, its dependent villages and its hamlets; Gazah, its dependent
villages and its hamlets, as far as the torrent of Egypt, and the great sea ...
/t/torrent.htm - 22k

Havoth-jair (3 Occurrences)
Havoth-jair. Havothjair, Havoth-jair. Havran . Easton's Bible Dictionary
Hamlets of the enlightener a district in the east of Jordan. ...
/h/havoth-jair.htm - 7k

Kirjath-jearim (17 Occurrences)
... DBY WBS YLT). Joshua 15:60 Kirjath-Baal, that is, Kirjath-jearim, and Rabbah:
two cities and their hamlets. (DBY WBS YLT). Joshua 18 ...
/k/kirjath-jearim.htm - 13k

Kirjath-baal (2 Occurrences)
... Kirjath-baal (2 Occurrences). Joshua 15:60 Kirjath-Baal, that is, Kirjath-jearim,
and Rabbah: two cities and their hamlets. (DBY WBS YLT). ...
/k/kirjath-baal.htm - 7k

Jidalah (1 Occurrence)
... Jidalah (1 Occurrence). Joshua 19:15 and Kattath, and Nahalal, and Shimron, and
Jidalah, and Beth-lehem: twelve cities and their hamlets. (DBY). ...
/j/jidalah.htm - 6k

Jiron (1 Occurrence)
... Jiron (1 Occurrence). Joshua 19:38 and Jiron, and Migdal-el, Horem, and Beth-anath,
and Beth-shemesh: nineteen cities and their hamlets. (DBY). ...
/j/jiron.htm - 6k

Resources

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus

Concordance

Hamlets (38 Occurrences)

Genesis 25:16
These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, in their hamlets and their encampments twelve princes of their peoples.
(DBY)

Numbers 32:41
And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took their hamlets, and called them Havoth-Jair.
(DBY)

Deuteronomy 2:23
And the Avvites who dwelt in the hamlets as far as Gazah the Caphtorim, who came out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.)
(DBY)

Joshua 13:23
And the border of the children of Reuben was the Jordan, and its border. This is the inheritance of the children of Reuben according to their families, the cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 13:28
This is the inheritance of the children of Gad according to their families, the cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 15:32
and Lebaoth, and Shilhim, and Ain, and Rimmon: all the cities twenty-nine, and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 15:36
and Shaaraim, and Adithaim, and Gederah, and Gederothaim: fourteen cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 15:41
and Gederoth, Beth-Dagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah: sixteen cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 15:44
and Keilah, and Achzib, and Mareshah: nine cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 15:45
Ekron and its dependent villages and its hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 15:46
From Ekron and westward all that are by the side of Ashdod, and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 15:47
Ashdod, its dependent villages and its hamlets; Gazah, its dependent villages and its hamlets, as far as the torrent of Egypt, and the great sea and its coast.
(DBY)

Joshua 15:51
and Goshen, and Holon, and Giloh: eleven cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 15:54
and Humtah, and Kirjath-Arba, that is, Hebron, and Zior: nine cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 15:57
Kain, Gibeah and Timnah: ten cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 15:59
and Maarath, and Beth-anoth, and Eltekon: six cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 15:60
Kirjath-Baal, that is, Kirjath-jearim, and Rabbah: two cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 15:62
and Nibshan, and Ir-Hammelah, and En-gedi: six cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 16:9
with the cities that were set apart for the children of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 18:24
and Chephar-haammonai, and Ophni, and Geba: twelve cities and their hamlets;
(DBY)

Joshua 18:28
and Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi, that is, Jerusalem, Gibeah, Kirjath: fourteen cities and their hamlets. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.
(DBY)

Joshua 19:6
and Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen: thirteen cities and their hamlets;
(DBY)

Joshua 19:7
Ain, Rimmon, and Ether, and Ashan: four cities and their hamlets;
(DBY)

Joshua 19:8
and all the hamlets that are round these cities to Baalath-beer, that is Ramah of the south. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families.
(DBY)

Joshua 19:15
and Kattath, and Nahalal, and Shimron, and Jidalah, and Beth-lehem: twelve cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 19:16
This was the inheritance of the children of Zebulun according to their families, these cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 19:22
and the border reached to Tabor, and Shahazimah, and Beth-shemesh; and their border ended at the Jordan: sixteen cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 19:23
This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 19:30
and Ummah, and Aphek, and Rehob: twenty-two cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 19:31
This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families, these cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 19:38
and Jiron, and Migdal-el, Horem, and Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh: nineteen cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 19:39
This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 19:48
This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities and their hamlets.
(DBY)

Joshua 21:12
But the fields of the city and the hamlets thereof gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.
(DBY)

1 Chronicles 6:56
but the fields of the city, and the hamlets thereof gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
(DBY)

Nehemiah 11:25
And as to the hamlets in their fields, some of the children of Judah dwelt in Kirjath-Arba and its dependent villages, and in Dibon and its dependent villages, and in Jekabzeel and its dependent villages,
(DBY)

Nehemiah 11:30
Zanoah, Adullam, and their hamlets, in Lachish and its fields, in Azekah and its dependent villages: and they encamped from Beer-sheba unto the valley of Hinnom.
(DBY)

Nehemiah 12:29
also from Beth-Gilgal, and out of the fields of Geba and Azmaveth; for the singers had built themselves hamlets round about Jerusalem.
(DBY)

Subtopics

Hamlets

Related Terms

Hammahlekoth (1 Occurrence)

Selahammahlekoth (1 Occurrence)

Hammath (2 Occurrences)

Pursuing (50 Occurrences)

Sela-hammah-lekoth (1 Occurrence)

Pursuit (35 Occurrences)

Hamlets (38 Occurrences)

Sela (5 Occurrences)

Escape (142 Occurrences)

Broke (153 Occurrences)