Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Nir cohen - Prof. Mat." <nir AT ccet.ufrn.br>]

jim,

MAQOM has a very generic use in the OT, and cannot be translated 
narrowly as major city. most of the quotations raised in the last 
few days are consistent with "district/zone/
inhabited region" understood vaguely. maybe zone of influence of a 
particular local ruler, or a common cultural/ethnical region.

etymologically, we may attribute QAM, HEQYM or QAYAM as the source for MAQOM,
defining its very origin. QAM may be more consistent with "local area of
military influence", HEQYM with a campsite or village, QAYAM with any
populater area. 

with time, the special characteristic of "MAQOM" gradually became fuzzier, 
till it became just today's colorless "a place". it can be argued, based 
on many quotations, that the latter meaning was already used in biblical 
times, e.g.

ה  וַיֹּאמֶר, אַל-תִּקְרַב הֲלֹם; שַׁל-נְעָלֶיךָ, מֵעַל רַגְלֶיךָ--כִּי 
הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה עוֹמֵד עָלָיו,
אַדְמַת-קֹדֶשׁ הוּא.    5 And He said: 'Draw not nigh hither; put off thy 
shoes from
off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.' 

dehaynu, eyn maqom legirsatkha...

nir cohen