Location

The precise location of Hamonah is debated. Zimmerli suggests that Hamonah’s location is unknowable, though Odell and Block believe that the context of the Gog narrative provides the necessary data. The Gog narrative situates the burial of Gog “in Israel … east of the sea” (Ezek 39:11), referring to either the Mediterranean Sea or the Dead Sea. Cooke and Eichrodt associate this location with Aberim in Moab, east of the Dead Sea (Num 27:12; 2 Sam 8:2; 2 Kgs 8:4–24; e.g., Cooke, Critical and Exegetical Commentary, 419; Eichrodt, Ezekiel, 517–18. However, since the site is said to be “in Israel,” a setting east of the Mediterranean is more likely (Zimmerli, Ezekiel, 2:317; Odell, “The City of Hamonah,” 485n22; Block, The Book of Ezekiel, 2:469n48).

Ezekiel 39:11 connects Hamonah with the Valley of Oberim or the Valley of Hamon-Gog. The name of this valley is interpreted various ways:

• It may signify “those who cross or pass over” (הָעֹבְרִים, ha'overim), as in the “Valley of Travelers” (NRSV).

• It may signify the realm of the dead, as in “those who have passed on.”

Moreover, the reference to “the Valley of Hamon-Gog” evokes “the Valley of Hinnom” due to their similar pronunciations. The Valley of Hinnom is associated with the site of Molech worship and child sacrifice in Jerusalem (e.g., Ezek 16:21; 23:36–42; Jer 32:35). Together, these clues associate the city of Hamonah and its burial site with Jerusalem (Odell, “The City of Hamonah,” 485, 482; Block, The Book of Ezekiel, 2:465–72; see also Heider, The Cult of Molek, 356–58).