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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The firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites of today.
Israel sent messengers to say to Sihon king of the Amorites: "Let us travel through your land. We won't go into the fields or vineyards. We won't drink [any] well water. We will travel the King's Highway until we have traveled through your territory." read more. But Sihon would not let Israel travel through his territory. Instead, he gathered his whole army and went out to confront Israel in the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel. Israel struck him with the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, [but only up] to the Ammonite border, because it was fortified. Israel took all the cities and lived in all these Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all its villages. Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken control of all his land as far as the Arnon. Therefore the poets say: Come to Heshbon, let it be rebuilt; let the city of Sihon be restored. For fire came out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the lords of Arnon's heights. Woe to you, Moab! You have been destroyed, people of Chemosh! He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon the Amorite king. We threw them down; Heshbon has been destroyed as far as Dibon. We caused desolation as far as Nophah, which reaches as far as Medeba. So Israel lived in the Amorites' land.
So Moses told Israel's judges, "Kill each of the men who aligned themselves with Baal of Peor."
"Yet they are the ones who, at Balaam's advice, incited the Israelites to unfaithfulness against the Lord in the Peor incident, so that the plague came against the Lord's community.
The Lord said to me, 'Show no hostility toward Moab, and do not provoke them to battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, since I have given Ar as a possession to the descendants of Lot.' "
"[The Lord also said,] 'Get up, move out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have handed Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land over to you. Begin to take possession [of it]; engage him in battle. Today I will begin to put the fear and dread of you on the peoples everywhere under heaven. They will hear the report about you, tremble, and be in anguish because of you.' read more. "So I sent messengers with an offer of peace to Sihon king of Heshbon from the Wilderness of Kedemoth, saying, 'Let us travel through your land; we will keep strictly to the highway. We will not turn to the right or the left. You can sell us food in exchange for silver so we may eat, and give us water for silver so we may drink. Only let us travel through on foot, just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir did for us, and the Moabites who live in Ar, until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.' But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us travel through his land, for the Lord your God made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate in order to hand him over to you, as has now taken place. "Then the Lord said to me, 'See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land to you. Begin to take possession of it.' So Sihon and his whole army came out against us for battle at Jahaz. The Lord our God handed him over to us, and we defeated him, his sons, and his whole army. At that time we captured all his cities and completely destroyed the people of every city, including the women and children. We left no survivors. We took only the livestock and the spoil from the cities we captured as plunder for ourselves.
This is because they did not meet you with food and water on the journey after you came out of Egypt, and because Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim was hired to curse you.#fn
this as their territory: From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the middle of the valley, to the whole plateau as far as Medeba, with Heshbon and all its cities on the plateau-Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon, read more. Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth-shahar on the hill in the valley, Beth-peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth- all the cities of the plateau, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon. Moses had killed him and the chiefs of Midian-Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba-the princes of Sihon who lived in the land.
Moses had given [territory] to half the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, but Joshua had given [territory] to the other half, with their brothers, on the west side of the Jordan. When Joshua sent them to their homes and blessed them,
The Israelites again did what was evil in the Lord's sight. He gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel, because they had done what was evil in the Lord's sight. After Eglon convinced the Ammonites and the Amalekites to join forces with him, he attacked and defeated Israel and took possession of the City of Palms. read more. The Israelites served Eglon king of Moab 18 years. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and He raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjaminite, as a deliverer for them. The Israelites sent him to Eglon king of Moab with tribute [money]. Ehud made himself a double-edged sword 18 inches long. He strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes and brought the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was an extremely fat man. When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the people who had carried it. At the carved images near Gilgal he returned and said, "King [Eglon], I have a secret message for you." The king called for silence, and all his attendants left him. Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in his room upstairs [where it was] cool. Ehud said, "I have a word from God for you," and the king stood up from his throne. Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon's belly. Even the handle went in after the blade, and Eglon's fat closed in over it, so that Ehud did not withdraw the sword from his belly. And Eglon's insides came out. Ehud escaped by way of the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upstairs room behind him. Ehud was gone when Eglon's servants came in. They looked and found the doors of the upstairs room locked and thought he was relieving himself in the cool room. The servants waited until they became worried and saw that he had still not opened the doors of the upstairs room. So they took the key and opened the doors-and there was their lord lying dead on the floor! Ehud escaped while the servants waited. He crossed over [the Jordan] near the carved images and reached Seirah. After he arrived, he sounded the ram's horn throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hill country, and he became their leader. He told them, "Follow me, because the Lord has handed over your enemies, the Moabites, to you." So they followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over. At that time they struck down about 10,000 Moabites, all strong and able-bodied men. Not one of them escaped. Moab became subject to Israel that day, and the land was peaceful 80 years.
to tell him, "This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites.
Now are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or fight against them?
When Saul assumed the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies in every direction: against Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he caused havoc.
From there David went to Mizpeh of Moab where he said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and mother stay with you until I know what God will do for me."
After this, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Metheg-ammah from Philistine control. He also defeated the Moabites, and after making them lie down on the ground, he measured them off with a cord. He measured every two cord lengths [of those] to be put to death and one length [of those] to be kept alive. So the Moabites became David's subjects and brought tribute.
from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Amalekites, and the spoil of Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh's daughter: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women
At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable idol of Moab, and for Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites on the hill across from Jerusalem.
Joram son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria during the eighteenth year of Judah's King Jehoshaphat; he reigned 12 years.
So he took his firstborn son, who was to become king in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering on the city wall. Great wrath was on the Israelites, and they withdrew from him and returned to their land.
Then Elisha died and was buried. Now marauding bands of Moabites used to come into the land in the spring of the year.
The Lord sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Jehoiakim. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord He had spoken through His servants the prophets.
When Sanballat, Tobiah, and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they became furious.
They aligned themselves with Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.
This is what the Lord God says: "Because Moab and Seir said: Look, the house of Judah is like all the [other] nations,
The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing Moab for three crimes, even four, because he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom. Therefore, I will send fire against Moab, and it will consume the citadels of Kerioth. Moab will die with a tumult, with shouting and the sound of the ram's horn. read more. I will cut off the judge from the land and kill all its officials with him. The Lord has spoken.
I have heard the taunting of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted My people and threatened their territory. Therefore, as I live- the declaration of the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel- Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah- a place overgrown with weeds, a salt pit, and a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them. read more. This is what they get for their pride, because they have taunted and acted arrogantly against the people of the Lord of Hosts. The Lord will be terrifying to them when He starves all the gods of the earth. Then all the distant coastlands of the nations will bow in worship to Him, each in its own place.