RUMA or ARUMAH

RUMA or ARUMAH (Heb. רוּמָה ,אָרוּמָה). (1). Town in the neighborhood of Shechem, where Abimelech established his residence (Judg. 9:41; corrupted to Tormah in Judg. 9:31). It is identified with Khirbat al-ʿUrma, 8¾ mi. (14 km.) S.E. of Shechem, a large mound with traces of walls, where remains of the Canaanite and Israelite periods were found. (2). Town in Lower Galilee, identified by some scholars with Rumah, the birthplace of Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah, mother of Jehoiakim, king of Judah (II Kings 23:36). It appears in the annals of Tiglath-Pileser III among the Galilean cities whose inhabitants were exiled in 733/2 B.C.E. It is perhaps identical with the Rumah mentioned in the Talmud and by Josephus (Tosef., Er. 4:17; Er. 51b; TJ, ibid., 4:1, 22a; Jos., Wars, 3:233). It is the present-day Khirbat al-Rūma in the plain of Bet Netophah. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Conder-Kitchener, 2 (1882), 387, 402; U. Guérin, Description Géographique… Samarie, 2 (1875), 2–3; Abel, Geog, 2 (1938), 251, 438; Aharoni, Land, index. (Michael Avi-Yonah)