Dumah

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Dumah . 1. Cited in   Genesis 25:14 (  1 Chronicles 1:30 ) as among the twelve tribes of Ishmael. The region thus indicated is supposed to be the oasis formerly called by the Arabs Dûmat el-Jendel and now known as el-Jôf , about three-fourths of the way from Damascus to Medina. The same place may be referred to in the obscure oracle   Isaiah 21:11 , but the Lxx [Note: Septuagint.] has ‘Idumæa,’ and it is possible that Edom is meant. 2. The name of a town in the highlands of Judah (  Joshua 15:52 ). The reading is not certain. The Lxx [Note: Septuagint.] and Vulg. [Note: Vulgate.] indicate Rumah , and not all editions of the Hebrew agree. If the received text is correct, an identification may be plausibly made with ed-Daumeh 10 miles S.W. of Hebron.

J. F. McCurdy.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("silence".) An Ishmaelite tribe and region ( Genesis 25:14;  1 Chronicles 1:30;  Isaiah 21:11). The name survives in Doomat el Jendel, "Dumah of the blocks of stone," namely, of which it was built. On the borders of Arabia and the Syrian desert. Put for all Idumea, to imply it should soon be put to silence, i.e. be destroyed. The name indicates its unhewn cyclopean masonry, like the gigantic buildings of Bashan. A town in the hills of Judah, near Hebron ( Joshua 15:52). Perhaps now Duweimeh , on the W. of the high district, N. of the Negeb or dry south land.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Du'mah. (silence).

1. A son of Ishmael, most probably, the founder of the Ishmaelite tribe of Arabia, and thence, the name of the principal place of district inhabited by that tribe.  Genesis 25:14;  1 Chronicles 1:30;  Isaiah 21:11.

2. A city in the mountainous district of Judah, near Hebron,  Joshua 15:52, represented by the ruins of a village called ed-Daumeh , six miles southwest of Hebron.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Isaiah 21:11 (a) The meaning of this word is "the burden of silence." Since there is no sound from Heaven, no voice from God, no expressions from eternity except what we find in the Bible, the prophet was troubled about it. His trouble made him ask the question, "What of the night?" Few ever ask, "What of the light?", or "What of Heaven?" Many ask, is there a hell? but no one asks, is there a Heaven? This silence is not broken by audible sounds, but is certainly broken by the Word of God.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Dumah (dû'mah ), silence. 1. A son of Ishmael.  Genesis 25:14;  1 Chronicles 1:30. 2. A town in Judah, near Hebron,  Joshua 15:52; now ed-Dômeh, ten miles southwest of Hebron. 3. A region, perhaps near Mount Seir.  Isaiah 21:11.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Psalm 94:17 Genesis 25:14 1 Chronicles 1:30

There was also a town of this name in Judah ( Joshua 15:52 ), which has been identified with ed-Domeh, about 10 miles southwest of Hebron. The place mentioned in the "burden" of the prophet ( Isaiah 21:11 ) is Edom or Idumea.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. Son of Ishmael and founder of a tribe in Arabia.  Genesis 25:14;  1 Chronicles 1:30 .

2. city or district prophesied against; probably in Edom, and perhaps connected with No. 1.  Isaiah 21:11 .

3. Town in the highlands of Judah.  Joshua 15:52 . Identified with ed Domeh, 31 26' N, 34 59' E .

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A tribe and country of the Ishmaelites in Arabia,  Genesis 25:14;  1 Chronicles 1:30;  Isaiah 21:11 . This is doubtless the same which is still called by the Arabs "Duma the stony" and "the Syrian Duma," situated on the confines of the Arabian and Syrian desert, with a fortress.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 25:14 Isaiah 21:11 2 Joshua 15:52

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Hebrews Dumah', דּוּמָה, silence ), the name of a (person and) district and also of a town.

1. (Sept. Δουμά, Ι᾿δουμά, Ι᾿δουμαία; Vulg. Duma .) The fourth son of Ishmael (Bc post 2064), and the tribe descended from him, as hence of the region inhabited by them in Arabia ( Genesis 25:14;  1 Chronicles 1:30). In Isaiah ( Isaiah 21:11), the "burden of Dumah" is coupled with Seir, the forest of Arabia, and Kedar. It is doubtless the same called at this day Stony or Syrian Duma, situated on the confines of the Syrian desert and Arabia, with a fortified castle (Niebuhr, Arabien, page 344), marked on D'Anville's map under lat. 291°, long. 580; the Dumath lying 5 or 7 days journey from Damascus, and 13 from Median, in the district Jof or Sirhan (Abulfeda, Tab. Arab. ed. Gagner, page 50); probably also the Dumaitha of Ptolemy (5:19). This identification (see Freytag, Hist. Falebi, page 53) with the name of a town in the north-western part of the peninsula is strengthened by Arab traditionists, who have the same belief (see the Ms. hir-at ez-Zeman). The lexicographers and geographers of their nation expressly state that it is correctly "Dumat el-Jendel," or "Duma el-Jendel" signifying "Dumah of the stones or blocks of stone," of which it is said to have been built (Ms. Sihah, Marasid, and Mushtarak, s.v.). El Jendel is said by some to mean "stones such as a man can lift" (see the Kamus), and seems to indicate that the place was built of unhewn or Cyclopean masonry, similar to that of very ancient structures. The town itself, which is one of the "Kureieyt" of Wady el ura (see the Marasid, s.v. Dumah), appears to be called Duma, and. the fortress which it contains to have the special appellation of "Marid.'" (See Arabia).

2. (Sept. Pεμνά v.r. Pουμά; Vulgate Ruma .) A town in the mountain district of Judah ( Joshua 15:52), in the group west by south of Hebron (Keil, Comment . in loc.). Eusebius and Jerome (Onomnast. s.v. Δουμά, Duma ) say it was then a large village (κώμη μεγίστη ), 17 miles from Eleutheropolis (Beit-Jibrin), in the district of Daroma (i.e., "the south," from the Hebrew דָּרוֹם ). Dr. Robinson passed the ruins of a village called ed Daumeh, 6 miles south-west of Hebron (Res . 1:314), and this is probably the same place. (See also Kiepert's Map , 1856; and Van de Velde's Memoir , page 308) (See Rumah).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

dū´ma ( דּוּמה , dūmāh , "silence"): This word occurs in the Old Testament with the following significations: (1) The land of silence or death, the grave ( Psalm 94:17;  Psalm 115:17 ); (2) a town in the highlands of Judah between Hebron and Beersheba, now ed - Daume ( Joshua 15:52 ); (3) an emblematical designation of Edom in the obscure oracle ( Isaiah 21:11 ,  Isaiah 21:12 ); (4) an Ishmaelite tribe in Arabia ( Genesis 25:14;  1 Chronicles 1:30 ). According to the Arabic geographies this son of Ishmael rounded the town of Dūmat - el - Jandal , the stone-built Dūmah , so called to distinguish it from another Dumah near the Euphrates. The former now bears the name of the Jauf ("belly"), being a depression situated half-way between the head of the Persian Gulf and the head of the gulf of Akaba. Its people in the time of Mohammed were Christians of the tribe of Kelb. It contained a great well from which the palms and crops were irrigated. It has often been visited by European travelers in recent times. See Jour. Royal Geog. Soc ., Xxiv (1854), 138-58; W. G. Palgrave, Central and Eastern Arabia , chapter ii. It is possible that the oracle in Isa (number 3 above) concerns this place.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Dumah, 1

Du´mah, a tribe and country of the Ishmaelites in Arabia . It is doubtless the same that is still called by the Arabs Duma the Stony, and the Syrian Duma, situated on the confines of the Arabian and Syrian deserts, with a fortress.

Dumah, 2

Dumah was also the name of a town in the tribe of Judah , which Eusebius and Jerome place seventeen R. miles from Eleutheropolis, in Daroma.