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I notice that numerous places have the prefix "kiriath" in their name. For example, Kiriath Arba and Kiriath Sepher. What does this word mean and what is its linguistic heritage. Is it Hebrew only, or is it found in other languages?

Tyler Durden
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  • This is not a easy as it looks at first. The lexicons list it as part of the proper name. Some indicate it means meadow, others town. – Perry Webb Jun 23 '19 at 20:33
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    @PerryWebb what lexica are you looking at? The word is common enough. You do need to look at the base lemma, of course... –  Jun 24 '19 at 07:24

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The noun qiryāh is found in most (all?) West Semitic languages (at least in Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician, Punic, and Ugaritic) with the meaning "village, small city, settlement". The etymology is uncertain, but it may derive from qarāh "to happen, to meet".

  • No references to support your answer? –  Jun 25 '19 at 05:49
  • @Mac see e.g. the lemma in Gesenius' dictionary, 18th ed., though I don't typically give references for things coming from working memory. –  Jun 25 '19 at 06:14
  • I do not doubt the correctness of the material in your answer - I personally know them to be correct. However, that does not remove the need to document facts from reliable sources. –  Jun 25 '19 at 09:57
  • There are boundaries, though; I likewise won't be including a reference for the construct form used here. –  Jun 25 '19 at 10:12
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The place name "Kiriath" occurs in conjunction with other names. Here is my (probably incomplete) list.

  • Kiriath-jearim, or Jiriath-arim. Strongs and Brown-Driver-Briggs give the translation as "city of forests". That is "Kiriath" = "city". It occurs in places like Josh 9:17, 15:9, 60, 18:4, 12, 15, 28, 1 Sam 16:21, 7:1, etc. In the LXX it is rendered πόλ(ε)ις Ιαρειμ[ν] in Josh 9:17.
  • Kiriath-arba. Strongs and Brown-Driver-Briggs give the translation as "city of four". It occurs in places such as Gen 23:2, 25:27, Josh 14:15, 15:13, 54, 20:7, 21:11, Neh 11:25. In the LXX it is rendered πόλις Αρβο(κ), meaning "city of Arbo(k)".
  • Kiriath-huzoth. Strongs gives the meaning as "city of streets". It only occurs in Num 22:39. In the LXX it is rendered πόλεις ἐπαύεων.
  • Kiriath-sepher. Strongs and Brown-Driver-Briggs give the meaning as "city of writing". In the LXX (Judges 1:11) it is written as πόλις (τῶν) γραμμάτων. It occurs in Josh 15:15, 16, 59, Judges 1:11, 12.
  • Kiriath-baal. Strongs and Brown-Driver-Briggs give the meaning as "city of Baal". It occurs in Josh 15:60, 18:14.
  • Kiriathaim. Brown-Driver-Briggs give the meaning as "city of two" or "dual city". It occurs in Gen 14:5, Num 32:37, Josh 13:19, 1 Chron 6:76, Jer 48:1, 23, Eze 25:9.

According to the NASB exhaustive concordance, "Kiriath" is from the Hebrew root word, "qiryah" meaning "city". The fact that the LXX appears to translate it as πόλις (= city or town) lends weight to this idea. [However, the LXX is known to have some "imaginative" translations.]