MADMEN

(Madʹmen) [possibly from a root meaning “manure”].

Seemingly a place in Moab foretold to suffer calamity by sword. At Jeremiah 48:2, “You, too, O Madmen, should keep silent,” translates the Hebrew phrase gam-madh·menʹ tid·domʹmi. Many scholars believe that the initial m in madh·menʹ (“Madmen”) was inadvertently repeated from the previous word (gam). Without the initial m, the consonants of Madmen correspond to those of Dimon, and therefore, Madmen is often considered to be the same as Dimon (possibly, Dimna, about 10 km [6 mi] N of Karak). However, perhaps Madmen does not designate an actual location, since the renderings of the Greek Septuagint, Syriac Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate suggest that the ancient Hebrew text read, ‘Yes, you [Moab] shall be utterly brought to silence.’