Bible Dictionaries
Mehunim

Holman Bible Dictionary

(mih hyoo' nihm) KJV form of Meunim or Meunites, an Arab tribe whose name likely derives from the city of Ma'an about twelve miles southeast of Petra. The Meunites raided Judah during the reign of Jehoshaphat (873-849 B.C.) according to 2 Chronicles 20:1 (NAS, NIV, REB, NRSV following the Greek translation; the Hebrew text reads Ammonites). Uzziah (783-742) subdued the Mehunites ( 2 Chronicles 26:7 ). During the reign of Hezekiah (727-698 B.C.), Israelites dislocated the Meunites from the vicinity of Gedor in Transjordan about eighteen miles north-northwest of Heshbon (1 Chronicles 4:41; KJV reads “habitations”). The Meunites are listed as Temple servants in the postexilic period (Ezra 2:50; Nehemiah 7:52 ). They were perhaps the descendants of prisoners of war.