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
See Verses Found in Dictionary
The firstborn gave birth to a son, and she called his name Moab. He [is] the father of Moab until this day.
Israel sent messengers to Sihon, the king of the Amorites, saying, "Let us go through your land; we will not turn aside into a field or vineyard; we will not drink well water along the way of the king until we have gone through your territory." read more. But Sihon did not allow Israel to go through his territory. Sihon gathered all his people and went out to meet Israel; he came [to] the desert, to Jahaz, and he fought against Israel. But Israel struck him with [the] edge of [the] sword, and they took possession of his land from Arnon to Jabbok, until the {Ammonites}, because the boundary of the {Ammonites} [was] strong. Israel took all these cities, and Israel inhabited all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its environs. Because Heshbon [was] the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land from his hand until Arnon. Thus the ones who quote proverbs say, "Come [to] Heshbon! Let it be built! And let the city of Sihon be established. Because fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon; it consumed Ar of Moab, the lords of the high places of Arnon. Woe to you, Moab! You have perished, people of Chemosh. He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to the king of the Amorites, Sihon. We destroyed them; Heshbon has perished up to Dibon; we laid waste up to Nophah, which {reaches} Medeba." Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites.
So Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Each [of you] kill his men who are joined together with Baal Peor."
Behold, these women {caused} the {Israelites}, by the word of Balaam, to be in apostasy against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, so that the plague was among the community of Yahweh.
And Yahweh said to me, 'You shall not attack Moab, and you shall not engage in war with them, for I will not give you any of his land [as] a possession; I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot [as] a possession.'
Arise, set out and cross [over] the wadi of Arnon. Look! I have given Sihon the Amorite, the king of Heshbon, and his land into your hand; begin to take possession of [it], and engage with him in battle. This day I will begin to place {the dread of you} and the fear of you {before} the peoples under all the heavens. [They] will hear {the report about you}, and [so] they will shake and tremble {because of you}.' read more. "So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon; [I sent] terms of peace, {saying}, 'Let me cross through your land [and] {only along the road} I will go; I will not turn aside to the right or [to the] left. Food for money you shall sell me, so that I may eat, and water for money you will give to me, so that I may drink; just let me cross on foot. [Just as] the descendants of Esau did for me, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, until I cross the Jordan into the land that Yahweh our God is giving to us.' But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing to let us cross through his [territory] because Yahweh your God hardened his spirit and {made him obstinate} {in order to give him} into your hand, {just as he has now done}. Yahweh said to me, 'Look! I have begun to give {over to you} Sihon and his land; begin {to take possession of his land}.' Then Sihon and all his people came out to meet us for battle at Jahaz. And so Yahweh our God gave him over {to us}, and we struck him down, and his sons and all of his people. So we captured all of his cities at that time, and we destroyed each town [of] males and the women and the children; we did not leave behind a survivor. We took only the livestock as spoil for ourselves, and [also] the booty of the cities that we had captured.
{because} they did not come to meet you with food and with water {when you came out of Egypt}, and [also] {because} they hired Balaam, son of Beor, from Pethor, in Aram Naharaim [to act] against you to curse you
Their territory was from Aroer, which [was] on the edge of the wadi of Arnon, and the city that [is] in the middle of the valley, and all the plateau by Medeba; Heshbon and its cities that [are] on the plateau; Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon, read more. Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, Kiriathaim, Sibmah, and Zereth Shahar on the hill of the valley; Beth Peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth; all of the cities of the plateau, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon and whom Moses defeated with the leaders of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the princes of Sihon who dwelled in the land.
And to the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given [a possession] in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua had given [a possession] with their kinsmen beyond the Jordan to the west; and when Joshua sent them to their tents and blessed them,
And again the {Israelites} did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. So Yahweh strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. He gathered to himself the {Ammonites and Amalekites}, and he went and defeated Israel, and they took possession of the city of palms. read more. And the {Israelites} served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years. And the {Israelites} cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjaminite and {a left-handed man}. And the {Israelites} sent a tribute to Eglon king of Moab {through him}. Ehud made for himself a short, {two-edged} sword (a cubit in length), and he fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. Then he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon [was] a very fat man. When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. But he turned back from the sculptured stones that [were] near Gilgal, and he said, "I have {a secret message} for you, O king." And he said, "Silence!" So all those standing in his presence went out, and Ehud came to him [while] he [was] sitting alone in his cool upper room. And Ehud said, "I have a {message from God} for you." So he got up from his seat. Then Ehud reached with his left hand for the sword on his right thigh, and he thrust it into his stomach. And the handle also went [in] after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade because he did not draw back the sword from his stomach; and it went protruding out the back. And Ehud went out the vestibule, and he closed the doors of the upper room and locked [them] behind him. After he left, his servants returned. When they saw [that] the doors of the upper room [were] locked, {they thought}, "Surely he [is] {relieving himself} in the cool inner room." And they waited so long they became embarrassed because he did not open the doors of the upper room. So they took the key and opened [the doors], and there their lord was lying on the ground dead. And Ehud escaped while they delayed. He passed by the sculptured stones and escaped to Seirah. And when he arrived he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the {Israelites} went down from the hill country with him leading them. And he said to them, "Follow after me! Yahweh has given Moab your enemies into your hand." So they went down after him, and they captured the fords of the Jordan toward Moab; and they did not allow anyone to cross over. And they struck Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, {all strong and able men}; no one escaped. And Moab was subdued on that day under the hand of Israel. And the land rested eighty years.
and he said to him, "Thus says Jephthah, 'Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the {Ammonites},
So then, [are] you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel, or did he ever make war against them?
So Saul took the kingship over Israel, and he fought all around against his enemies, against Moab, against the {Ammonites}, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. He inflicted punishment against all who rebelled.
And David went up from there to Mizpah of Moab. He said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and my mother {stay} with you until I know what God will do for me."
It happened afterwards [that] David attacked [the] Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the hands of [the] Philistines. When he defeated Moab, he measured them with the cord, making them lie on the ground. He measured two cords to kill and {the third cord} to let live. So Moab became servants of David, bringing tribute.
from Aram and from Moab and from the {Ammonites} and from [the] Philistines and from Amalek and from the plunder of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, the king of Zobah.
King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, Hittite;
At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the mountain which {faces} Jerusalem and for Molech, the abomination of the {Ammonites}.
Now Joram the son of Ahab had become king over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. He reigned twelve years
He took his firstborn son who was to become king in his place and offered him [as] a burnt offering on the wall. Great wrath came upon Israel, and they withdrew from him and returned to the land.
Elisha died and they buried him. Now the raiding parties of Moab came {in the spring}.
So Yahweh sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, raiding bands of Aram, raiding bands of Moab, and raiding bands of the {Ammonites}. He had sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Yahweh that he had spoken by the hand of his servants the prophets.
Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem were going forward and the gaps were being closed, they were very angry.
They also attached themselves to Baal of Peor, and they ate sacrifices offered to [the] dead.
Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Because of Moab and Seir saying, 'The house of Judah [is] like all of the nations,'
Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Moab and for four I will not revoke [the punishment], because he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom. So I will send a fire against Moab and it will devour the citadel fortresses of Kerioth, and Moab will die amid uproar, amid war cries [and] amid the sound of a horn. read more. And I will cut off [the] ruler from its midst and I will kill all of its officials with him," says Yahweh.
I have heard the reproaches of Moab and the scorning of the {Ammonites}, [with] which they have taunted my nation and made boasts against their territory. "Therefore, as I live"--a declaration of Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel-- "Moab shall be as Sodom, and the {Ammonites} like Gomorrah, a place of weeds and salt pits and a desolation forever. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the remainder of my nation shall possess them." read more. This [shall be] for them in place of their pride because they mocked and boasted against the people of Yahweh of hosts. Yahweh [will be] awesome against them, for he will destroy all the gods of the earth and all the lands of the nations; each in its place will bow down to him.