Reference: Moab, Moabites
Hastings
Moab occupied the lofty table-land to the east of the Dead Sea. It was bounded on the E. by the Arabian desert, on the S. by the land of Edom, on the W. by the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley. Its N. boundary fluctuated at different periods between the Arnon and an indistinct line some distance north of Heshbon. This table-land is elevated some 3000 feet above the level of the Mediterranean, and 4300 feet above the Dead Sea. It is traversed by three deep valleys, the middle one of which, the Arnon, is the deepest, and is often mentioned in the Bible. The northern portion consists of broad stretches of rolling country, the reddish soil of which is fertile, while in the southern portion more hills are found, and the deep wrinkles interfere more with agriculture. In the winter months the rainfall is adequate, and renders the country very desirable in comparison with the deserts on its border.
In the earliest times known to us this land was called Lotan (Egyp. Ruten), or Lot. The narrative of Ge 19, which makes Lot (wh. see) the father of Moab, apparently means that the Moabites settled in this land of Lot. The meaning of Moab is undetermined. The etymology of Ge 19:37 (Septuagint) is not philological, and modern guesses are uncertain.
The narrative of Ge 19 shows that the Israelites recognized the Moabites as their kinsmen. That they really were such, their language, religion, and customs, so far as known to us, also testify. Probably, then, the Moabites came with the wave of Aram
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And the first-born bore a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites to this day.
And Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, Let us pass through thy land; we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink water out of the wells; on the king's road will we go until we have passed thy border. read more. But Sihon would not suffer Israel to go through his border; and Sihon gathered all his people, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. And Israel took all these cities, and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, at Heshbon, and in all its dependent villages. For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites; and he had fought against the former king of Moab, and had taken all his land out of his hand, even unto the Arnon. Therefore the poets say, Come to Heshbon; let the city of Sihon be built and established. For there went forth fire from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon; It consumed Ar of Moab, the lords of the high places of the Arnon. Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, people of Chemosh: He gave his sons that had escaped, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon the king of the Amorites. And we have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon; and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba. And Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites.
And Moses said to the judges of Israel, Slay every one his men that have joined themselves to Baal-Peor.
Lo, these, through the counsel of Balaam, caused the children of Israel to commit sin against Jehovah in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague on the assembly of Jehovah.
And Jehovah said to me, Distress not the Moabites, neither engage with them in battle; for I will not give thee of their land a possession; for unto the children of Lot have I given Ar as a possession.
Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon. Behold, I have given into thy hand Sihon the king of Heshbon, the Amorite, and his land: begin, take possession, and engage with him in battle. This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the peoples under the whole heaven; who will hear report of thee, and will tremble, and quake because of thee. read more. And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon the king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, Let me pass through thy land: by the highway alone will I go; I will neither turn to the right hand nor to the left. Thou shalt sell me food for money that I may eat; and thou shalt give me water for money that I may drink; I will only pass through on my feet, as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did to me, until I shall pass over the Jordan into the land which Jehovah our God giveth us. But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Jehovah thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obdurate, that he might give him into thy hand, as it is this day. And Jehovah said to me, Behold, I begin to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin, take possession, that thou mayest possess his land. And Sihon came out against us for battle, he and all his people, to Jahaz. But Jehovah our God gave him up before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and his whole people. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every city, men, and women, and little ones: we let none escape. Only the cattle we took as booty for ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took.
because they met you not with bread and with water on the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor, of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.
And their territory was from Aroer, which is on the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that is in the midst of the ravine, and all the plateau by Medeba; Heshbon, and all her cities that are in the plateau, Dibon, and Bamoth-Baal, and Beth-Baal-meon, read more. And Jahzah, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, and Kirjathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth-shahar in the mountain of the vale, and Beth-Peor, and the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth; all the cities of the plateau, and the whole kingdom of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who reigned at Heshbon, whom Moses smote, him and the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the chiefs of Sihon dwelling in the land.
And to half the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given inheritance in Bashan, and to the other half thereof had Joshua given among their brethren on this side the Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them also,
And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amal'ekites, and went and defeated Israel; and they took possession of the city of palms. read more. And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. But when the people of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length; and he girded it on his right thigh under his clothes. And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people that carried the tribute. But he himself turned back at the sculptured stones near Gilgal, and said, "I have a secret message for you, O king." And he commanded, "Silence." And all his attendants went out from his presence. And Ehud came to him, as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." And he arose from his seat. And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly; and the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the dirt came out. Then Ehud went out into the vestibule, and closed the doors of the roof chamber upon him, and locked them. When he had gone, the servants came; and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, "He is only relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber." And they waited till they were utterly at a loss; but when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them; and there lay their lord dead on the floor. Ehud escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the sculptured stones, and escaped to Se-i'rah. When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of E'phraim; and the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, having him at their head. And he said to them, "Follow after me; for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand." So they went down after him, and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and allowed not a man to pass over. And they killed at that time about ten thousand of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years.
and said to him, "Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites,
Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them?
And Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies round about, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines; and whithersoever he turned himself, he discomfited them.
And David went thence to Mizpeh in Moab, and said to the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth amongst you, till I know what God will do for me.
And after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them; and David took the power of the capital out of the hand of the Philistines. And he smote the Moabites, and measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and one full line to keep alive. And the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts.
of the Syrians, and of the Moabites, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of the Amalekites, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
But king Solomon loved many foreign women, besides the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, Hittites;
Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, on the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon.
And Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; and he reigned twelve years.
And he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him up for a burnt-offering upon the wall. And there was great wrath against Israel; and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.
And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.
And Jehovah sent against him the bands of the Chaldeans, and the bands of the Syrians, and the bands of the Moabites, and the bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spoke through his servants the prophets.
And it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobijah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being repaired, that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,
And they joined themselves unto Baal-Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead;
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the nations,
Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not revoke its sentence; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime. And I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerijoth; and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. read more. And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith Jehovah.
I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, wherewith they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border. Therefore, as I live, saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall certainly be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and salt-pits, and a perpetual desolation; the remnant of my people shall spoil them, and the residue of my nation shall possess them. read more. This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of Jehovah of hosts. Jehovah will be terrible unto them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and all the isles of the nations shall worship him, every one from his place.