HAZAZON-TAMAR

(Hazʹa·zon-taʹmar) [Hazazon of the palm trees].

A city inhabited by Amorites and apparently located in the vicinity of the Low Plain of Siddim. King Chedorlaomer and his allies defeated the Amorites dwelling in Hazazon-tamar. (Gen. 14:5-8) Centuries later the combined forces of Moab, Ammon and the mountainous region of Seir came against Judah by way of “Hazazon-tamar, that is to say, En-gedi.” (2 Chron. 20:2, 10, 11) Many scholars believe that the Genesis reference points to a location some distance S of En-gedi and therefore regard the words “that is to say, En-gedi,” as a late addition. The name “Hazazon-tamar,” however, appears to be preserved in the Wadi Hasasa about seven miles (11 kilometers) NW of the suggested site of En-gedi. Also, the meaning of Hazazon-tamar would fit the En-gedi region, described by Josephus as a place where “the best kind of palm trees” thrive. (Antiquities of the Jews, Book IX, chap. I, par. 2) So if the Genesis passage refers to a more southerly location, possibly there were two places called Hazazon-tamar: the one linked with En-gedi; the other perhaps the site SW of the Dead Sea that is called simply Tamar.—Ezek. 47:19; 48:28.