Bible Encyclopedias
Chilmad

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kil´mad ( כּלמד , kilmadh ; Χαρμάν , Charmán ): A city or district mentioned after Sheba and Asshur as supplying merchandise to Tyre (Ezekiel 27:23 ). By changing "m" into "w" (common in Assyrian-Babylonian) this has been compared with Kalwādha near Bagdad (G. Smith, Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, I, 61; Delitzsch, Paradies , 206), but the identification seems improbable. Though regarded as the name of a country in the Septuagint and the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible , 390-405 ad) (Charman ; Chelmad ), there is some doubt whether this view of the word is correct. The Targum substitutes Madhai , "Media," and on this account Mez (Stadt Harran , 24) amends to Kōl Madhai , "all Media." The absence of the copula "and" has caused others to further modify the vocalization, and by reading kelimmūdh instead of Chilmad, the sense "Asshur was as the apprentice of thy trading" (Ḳimḥi , Hitzig, Cornill) is obtained, but is not satisfactory. Probably both text and translation are susceptible of improvement.