ZAMZUMMIM

ZAMZUMMIM (Heb. זַמְזֻמִּים), the name given by the Ammonites to the inhabitants of the Transjordanian territory whom they dispossessed (Deut. 2:20). They were part of the nation of giants known as rephaim , who formed the ancient population of Transjordan (Deut. 2:10–12, 20–23). The Zamzummim are often identified with the people called Zuzim, mentioned as one of the nations defeated by Chedorlaomer and his allies in Transjordan (Gen. 14:5; Rashi, Gen. 14:5), since the same peoples listed in Deuteronomy 2 are listed in Genesis, with Zuzim substituted for Zamzummim. Some modern scholars explain the name Zamzummim as "to talk gibberish" (cf. Ar. zamzama). In the midrashic literature, Zamzummim (interpreted as meaning "great masters in war") is one of the seven names given to the offspring of the alliances between the Canaanite women and the angels (Gen. R. 26: 7; see Gen. 6:1–4). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: S.R. Driver, Deuteronomy (ICC, 1895), 40; EM, 2 (1954), 909–10; G.M. Landes, in: IDB, 4 (1962), 934; E.A. Speiser, Genesis (1964), 102; L. Koehler and W. Baumgartner, Hebraeisches und aramaeisches Lexikon zum Alten Testament, 1 (19673), 255, 262; Ginzberg, Legends, 1 (1909), 151. (Gershon Bacon)