Reference: MOABITES
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Descendants of Moab the son of Lot, Ge 19:30-38. The land of Moab lay east and southeast of the Dead Sea, and chiefly south of the river Arnon. At one period, however, it extended north as far as the Jabbok, and for a long time the region beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho retained the name of "the plains of Moab," Nu 22:1; De 1:5; 29:1; Jos 13:32. The Moabites had dispossessed a race of giants called Emin, De 2:11, and had themselves been expelled by the Amorites from the territory north of the Arnon, Nu 21:13,26; Jg 11:13-18, which was again conquered by Moses, and assigned to the tribe of Reuben. On the approach of Israel from Egypt, the Moabites acted with great inhumanity, Nu 22-24; De 2:8-9; and though God spared them from conquest, he excluded them and their seed even to the tenth generation form the peculiar privileges of his people, De 23:3-6. They were gross idolaters, worshipping Chemosh and Baal-peor with obscene rites, Nu 25; 2Ki 3:27. See MOLOCH. At times, as in the days of Ruth, there was peace between them and Israel; but a state of hostility was far more common, as in the time of Eglon, Jg 3:12-30; of Saul, 1Sa 14:47; of David, 2Sa 8:2,12; of Joram and Jeroboam, 2Ki 3:13,20; 14:25. They aided Nebuchadnezzar against the Jews, 2Ki 24:2; Eze 25:6-11; and after these began to be carried captive, appear to have regained their old possessions north of the Arnon, Isa 15-16. The Jewish prophets recorded many threatenings against these hereditary enemies of God and his people, Nu 24:17; Ps 60:12; 83:6; Jer 25:9-21; 48; Am 2:1-3; and all travelers concur in attesting the fulfillment of these predictions. Desolation and gloom, brood over the mountains of Moab, and its fruitful valleys are for the most part untilled. It is under Turkish government, but is inhabited chiefly by migratory Arabs, Zep 2:8-9. Few travelers have ventured to traverse it in modern times. They describe it as abounding in ruins, such as shattered tombs, cisterns walls, temples, etc., proving that it was once densely populated. See "KEITH ON PROPHECY."
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And Lot departed out of Zoar and dwelled in the mountains and his two daughters with him for he feared to tarry in Zoar: he dwelt therefore in a cave, both he and his two daughters also. Then said the elder unto the younger, "Our father is old, and there are no more men in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the world. read more. Come therefore, let us give our father wine to drink, and let us lie with him that we may save seed of our father." And they gave their father wine to drink that same night. And the elder daughter went and lay with her father. And he perceived it not; neither when she lay down, neither when she rose up. And on the morrow the elder said unto the younger, "Behold, yesternight lay I with my father. Let us give him wine to drink this night also, and go thou and lie with him, and let us save seed of our father." And they gave their father wine to drink that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him. And he perceived it not; neither when she lay down, neither when she rose up. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. And the elder bare a son and called him Moab, which is the father of the Moabites unto this day. And the younger bare a son and called him Benammi, which is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.
And they departed thence and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which river is in the wilderness, and cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites which Sihon had fought before with the king of the Moabites, and had taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.
And the children of Israel removed, and pitched in the fields of Moab, on the other side of Jordan, by Jericho.
I see him but not now, I behold him but not nigh. There shall come a star of Jacob and rise a scepter of Israel, which shall smite the coasts of Moab and undermine all the children of Seth.
On the other side Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to declare this law, saying,
And when we were departed from our brethren, the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir by the field way from Elath and Eziongeber, we turned and went the way to the wilderness of Moab. Then the LORD said unto me, 'See that thou vex not the Moabites, neither provoke them to battle, for I will not give thee of their land to possess: because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot to possess.'
Which also were taken for Giants, like as the Anakims: And the Moabites called them Emims.
The Ammonites and the Moabites shall not come into the congregation of the LORD; no, not in the tenth generation, no they shall never come in to the congregation of the LORD, because they met you not with bread and water in the way when ye came out of Egypt, and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor, the interpreter of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. read more. Nevertheless, the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam, but turned the curse to a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee. Thou shalt never, therefore, seek that which is prosperous or good for them all thy days forever.
These are the words of the covenant which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
These are they to which Moses gave inheritance in the fields of Moab, on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward.
And then the children of Israel went to again, and committed wickedness in the sight of the LORD. And then the LORD hardened Eglon the king of the Moabites, against the children of Israel, because they had committed wickedness before the LORD. And this Eglon gathered unto him the children of Ammon, and the Amalekites, and went and smote the children of Israel, and conquered the city of palm trees. read more. And the children of Israel served Eglon the king of the Moabites eighteen years. And then they cried unto the LORD. And the LORD stirred them up a saver, Ehud the son of Gera, the son of Jemini, a man that could do nothing handsomely with his right hand. And when the children of Israel sent a present by him unto Eglon the king of the Moabites, Ehud made him a two-edged dagger of a span long, and girded it under his garment upon his right thigh; and brought the present unto Eglon the king of the Moabites. As for Eglon, he was a very fat man. And when he had delivered the present, he let the people go that had carried the present, and he himself turned back from the idols at Gilgal, and caused to say thus: "I have a secret thing to tell thee, O king." And the king commanded to keep silence, and all they that stood about him went out from him. And Ehud came in unto him in a summer parlor, of which he had several unto himself alone, and said, "I have a message unto thee from God." And he arose out of his seat. And Ehud put forth his left hand and took the dagger from his right thigh and thrust it into his belly, so that the hilt went in also, and the fat closed upon the hilt: for he drew not the dagger out of his belly. And filthiness departed from him. But Ehud gat him out at the back door, and put to the door after him, and locked it. When he was gone out, his servants came and looked. And behold, the doors of the parlor were locked. And they said, "Ah, he is doing of his easement in his summer chamber." And when they had tarried till they were ashamed, for no man did the doors of the parlor open: then they took a key and opened them. And behold, their lord was fallen down dead upon the earth. But Ehud escaped while they tarried, and was gone beyond the idols and escaped into Seirah. And when he was come, he blew a trumpet in mount Ephraim. And the children of Israel went down with him off the hill and he before them. And he said unto them, "Follow me: for the LORD hath delivered your enemies, the Moabites into your hands." And they descended after him and took the passages of Jordan from the Moabites, and suffered not a man to pass over. And they slew of the Moabites, the same time, upon a ten thousand men, all nobles, and men of might: that there escaped not a man, and so the Moabites were subdued that day, under the hands of Israel: and the land had rest eighty years.
And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, "Because Israel took away my land, when they came out of Egypt, even from Arnon unto Jabbok and from thence unto Jordan, now therefore restore those lands again with fair means." And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the children of Ammon, read more. and said unto him, "Thus sayeth Jephthah: Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon. But when Israel came out of Egypt, they walked through the wilderness, even unto the reed sea, and came to Kadesh, and sent messengers unto the king of Edom saying, 'Let us, we pray thee, go through thy land.' But the king of Edom would not agree thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab, but he would not consent. And so Israel abode still in Kadesh. And then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came along by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of the river of Arnon, and came not within the coasts of the Moabites: for Arnon was their utmost border.
And so Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side: against the Moabites; against the children of Ammon; against the Edomites; against the kings of Zobah; and against the Philistines.
And he beat the Moabites and measured them with a line, making them lie along the earth; so that he brought two parts of them to death, and let one part live. And so the Moabites became David's servants, and paid tribute.
of the Syrians, the Moabites, the children of Ammon, the Philistines, the Amalekites, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
And Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What have I to do with thee? Get thee to the prophets of thy father and of thy mother." And the king of Israel said unto him, "Oh nay, but hath the LORD called these three kings to deliver them into the hands of the Moabites?"
And in the morning, about offering time, there came such a water that way from Edom that the country was filled with water.
And then he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the walls. And there came so great wrath upon Israel, that they departed from him and returned to their own land.
He restored the coasts of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea, in the wild fields, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel which he spake through his servant Jonah the son of Amittai the prophet, which was of Gathhepher.
And the LORD sent upon him men of war out of Chaldea, out of Syria, out of the Moabites, and from the children of Ammon: and sent them into Judah to destroy it, according to the saying of the LORD which he spake by his servants the Prophets.
Through God will we do great acts, for it is he that shall tread down our enemies.
Lo, I will send out, and call for all the people that dwell in the North, sayeth the LORD, and will prepare Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon my servant, and will bring them upon this land, and upon all that dwell therein, and upon all the people that are about them, and will utterly root them out. I will make of them a wilderness, a mockage, and a continual desert. Moreover, I will take from them the voice of gladness and solace, the voice of the bridegroom and the bride, the voice of the anointed, with the cressets: read more. and this whole land shall become a wilderness, and they shall serve the said people and the king of Babylon, three score years and ten. When the seventy years are expired, I will visit also the wickedness of the king of Babylon and his people sayeth the LORD: yea, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it a perpetual wilderness, and will fulfill all my words upon that land which I have devised against it - yea, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied of all people - so that they also shall be subdued unto divers nations and great kings, for I will recompense them according to their deeds and works of their own hands.' "For thus hath the LORD God of Israel spoken unto me, 'Take this wine cup of indignation from my hand, that thou mayest cause all the people, to whom I send thee, for to drink of it: that when they have drunken thereof, they may be mad, and out of their wits, when the sword cometh that I will send among them.' Then took I the cup from the LORD's hand, and made all the people drink thereof, unto whom the LORD had sent me. But first the city of Jerusalem, and all the cities of Judah, their kings and princes: to make them desolate, waste, despised and cursed according as it is come to pass this day. Yea, and Pharaoh the king of Egypt, his servants, his princes and his people altogether one with another; and all kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the Philistine's land - Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and the remnant of Ashdod - the Edomites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites;
For thus sayeth the LORD God: Insomuch as thou hast clapped with thine hands, and stamped with thy feet; yea, rejoiced in thine heart over the land of Israel with despite; behold, I will stretch out mine hand over thee also, and deliver thee to be spoiled of the Heathen, and root thee out from among the people, and cause thee to be destroyed out of all lands. Yea, I will make thee be laid waste, that thou mayest know that I am the LORD. read more. "'Thus sayeth the LORD God: Forsomuch as Moab and Seir do say, 'As for the house of Judah, it is but like as all other Gentiles be,' Therefore, behold, I will make the cities of Moab weaponless, and take away their strength, their cities, and chief coasts of their land which are the pleasures of the country: As namely. Bethjeshimoth, Baalmeon, and Kiriathaim. These will I open unto them of the east, that they may fall upon the Ammonites: and will give it them in possession: so that the Ammonites shall no more be had in remembrance among the Heathen. Even thus will I punish Moab also, that they may know how that I am the LORD.
Thus sayeth the LORD, 'For three and four wickednesses of Moab, I will not spare him: because he burnt the bones of the king of Edom to ashes. Therefore will I send a fire into Moab, which shall consume the palaces of Kerioth: so that Moab shall perish with a noise and the sound of a shawme. read more. I will root out the judge from among them, and slay all his princes with him,' sayeth the LORD.
I have heard the despite of Moab, and the blasphemies of the children of Ammon: how they have shamefully intreated my people, and magnified themselves within the borders of their land. Therefore as truly as I live, sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel, Moab shall be as Sodom, and Ammon as Gomorrah: even dry thorn hedges, salt pits and perpetual wilderness. The residue of my folk shall spoil them, the remnant of my people shall have them in possession.