Mount Amana (אֲמָנָה, a-mā'na, a-mä'na,[1] uh-may'nuh[2]) is an ancient name for the southern Anti-Lebanon Mountains.

View to Horbat Omrit, to Tel Azzaziat and to the Anti-Lebanon mountains from top of Givat HaEm, Upper Galilee, palestine

Geography

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Mount Amana is at the southern end[3][4] of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains,[5][6][7][1] near the source of the river Abana.[3][8][4][9] Paul Haupt identifies this mountain as Jabal az-Zabadany, northwest of Damascus.[8]

Mount Amana is often confused with Mount Amanus, also known as Mount Hor, at the north end of the Syrian plain.[a]

Notable mentions

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Mount Amana is mentioned in Song of Songs (4:8) along with Lebanon, Senir, and Mount Hermon.[1] Senir, Mount Hermon, and Amana are all prominent mountains on the northern end of Israel[10] in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains.[11] In this era, Lebanon referred to both the Lebanese Mountains and the Anti-Lebanese mountains without referring to any particular peak.[12] A targum on this verse reads "They that dwell on the river Amana shall offer thee a gift."[7]

The "mountains of Sanir and Amana" are also mentioned in the Book of Jubilees as lying within the inheritance of Shem (8:21), or more specifically, Arpachshad (9:4).

Winckler was the first scholar to suggest that the Mount Ammananu referred to in the inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III should be understood as identical with Amanah,[13][14] a claim which has been confirmed by more recent scholarship.[15][16]

Tacitus records that a triumphal arch was erected on Mount Amana (possibly Mount Amanus) in honor of Germanicus after his death.[17]

Amana River

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In the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, the name "Amana" is given in the margin to 2 Kings 5:12 as an alternate reading of Abana,[6][3] and contemporary scholars prefer the reading Amana,[15][9] following the targum.[9] This river flows through Damascus and is currently known as the Barada.[6][8][16][11][18][19]

Meanings

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The name Amana means "constant",[2][1] "firm",[1] "faith",[20] "truth",[20] "credulity",[20] or "a nurse".[20] It was translated in the Septuagint as πιστεως,[1][additional citation(s) needed] meaning "trust", "fidelity", or "faithfulness"[21][better source needed]

Notes

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  1. ^ eg. Orr 1915, p. 113; Robinson 1835, p. 51; Schwarz 1850, p. 19

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Orr 1915, p. 113.
  2. ^ a b Douglas, Tenney & Silva 2011, p. 55.
  3. ^ a b c Easton 1897.
  4. ^ a b Rand 2015.
  5. ^ Freedman & Myers 2000, p. 49.
  6. ^ a b c Walton, Matthews & Chavalas 2012, p. 391.
  7. ^ a b Wells & Calmet 1817, p. 269, Abana.
  8. ^ a b c Haupt 1902, p. 8.
  9. ^ a b c Gill 1763.
  10. ^ Bloch & Bloch 1995, p. 13.
  11. ^ a b Cogan 1984, p. 255.
  12. ^ Ikeda 1978.
  13. ^ Cogan 1984, p. 256.
  14. ^ Winckler 1892, p. 131, n. 1.
  15. ^ a b Cogan 1984.
  16. ^ a b Kraeling 2008, p. 46.
  17. ^ Tacitus 1876.
  18. ^ Haparchi 1852.
  19. ^ Porter 1855.
  20. ^ a b c d Wells & Calmet 1817, p. 276, Amana.
  21. ^ "Strong's Greek: 4102. πίστις (Pistis) -- faith, faithfulness".

Sources

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