Reference: Moab
Easton
the seed of the father, or, according to others, the desirable land, the eldest son of Lot (Ge 19:37), of incestuous birth.
(2.) Used to denote the people of Moab (Nu 22:3-14; Jg 3:30; 2Sa 8:2; Jer 48:11,13).
(3.) The land of Moab (Jer 48:24), called also the "country of Moab" (Ru 1:2,6; 2:6), on the east of Jordan and the Dead Sea, and south of the Arnon (Nu 21:13,26). In a wider sense it included the whole region that had been occupied by the Amorites. It bears the modern name of Kerak.
In the Plains of Moab, opposite Jericho (Nu 22:1; 26:63; Jos 13:32), the children of Israel had their last encampment before they entered the land of Canaan. It was at that time in the possession of the Amorites (Nu 21:22). "Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah," and "died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord" (De 34:5-6). "Surely if we had nothing else to interest us in the land of Moab, the fact that it was from the top of Pisgah, its noblest height, this mightiest of the prophets looked out with eye undimmed upon the Promised Land; that it was here on Nebo, its loftiest mountain, that he died his solitary death; that it was here, in the valley over against Beth-peor, he found his mysterious sepulchre, we have enough to enshrine the memory in our hearts."
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.
From there they moved, and encamped on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
Let me pass through your land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king's highway, until we are past your borders.
For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.
And the children of Israel set out, and encamped in the plains of Moab on this side of Jordan by Jericho.
And Moab was greatly afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. read more. He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over opposite me: Come now therefore, I pray you, curse for me this people; for they are too mighty for me: perhaps I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed. And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spoke unto him the words of Balak. And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the LORD shall speak unto me: and the leaders of Moab abode with Balaam. And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with you? And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent unto me, saying, Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, who cover the face of the earth: come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out. And God said unto Balaam, You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people: for they are blessed. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the leaders of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD refuses to give me permission to go with you. And the leaders of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuses to come with us.
These are they that were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho.
So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor: but no man knows of his grave unto this day.
These are the areas which Moses did distribute for inheritance in the plains of Moab, on the other side of Jordan, by Jericho eastward.
So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.
And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.
Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them food.
And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabite young woman that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab:
Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his dregs, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.
And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Beth-el their confidence.
And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.
Fausets
("from father"), i.e. the incestuous offspring of Lot's older daughter, near Zoar, S.E. of the Dead Sea (Ge 19:37). Originally the Moabites dwelt due E. of the Dead Sea, from whence they expelled the Emims. Their territory was 40 miles long, 12 wide, the modern Belka or Kerak (De 2:10-11). Afterward, Sihon king of the Amorites drove them S. of the river Amon, now wady el Mojib (Nu 21:13,26-30; Jg 11:13,18), which thenceforward was their northern boundary. Israel was forbidden to meddle with them (Jg 11:9,19) on account of the tie of blood through Lot, Abraham's nephew, for Jehovah gave Ar unto the children of Lot, having dispossessed the giant Emims. It was only when Moab seduced Israel to idolatry and impurity (Numbers 25), and hired Balaam to curse them, that they were excluded from Jehovah's congregation to the tenth generation (De 23:3-4). Ammon was more roving than Moab and occupied the pastures to the N.E. outside the mountains.
Moab was more settled in habits, and remained nearer the original seat Zoar. Its territory after the Amorite conquest was circumscribed, but well fortified by nature (Nu 21:20, margin); called "the field of Moab" (Ru 1, and "the corner of Moab" (Nu 24:17; Jer 48:45). The country N. of Arnon, opposite Jericho reaching to Gilead, was more open; vast prairie-like plains broken by rocky prominences; "the land of Moab" (De 1:5; 32:49). Besides there was the Arboth Moab, "plains (rather deep valley) of Moab," the dry sunken valley of Jordan (Nu 22:1). Outside of the hills enclosing Moab proper on the S.E. are the uncultivated pastures called midbar, "wilderness," facing Moab (Nu 21:11). Through it Israel advanced. The song (Ex 15:15) at the Red Sea first mentions the nation, "trembling shall take hold upon ... the mighty men of Moab."
Israel's request for a passage through Edom and Moab, and liberty to purchase bread and water, was refused (Jg 11:17; Nu 20:14-21). In Israel's circuitous march round the two kingdoms they at last, when it suited their own selfish ends and when they could not prevent Israel's march, sold them bread and water (De 2:28-29; 23:3-4). The exclusion of a Moabite from the congregation only forbade his naturalization, not his dwelling in Israel nor an Israelite marrying a Moabitess. Ruth married Naomi's son, but became a proselyte. The law of exclusion it is clear could never have been written after David's time, whose great grandmother was a Moabitess. Israel was occupying the country N. of Arnon which Moab had just lost to Sihon, and which Israel in turn had wrested from him, and with its main force had descended from the upper level to the Shittim plains, the Arboth Moab, in the Jordan valley, when Balak, alarmed for his already diminished territory, induced the Midianite "elders" to join him and hired Balak; virtually, though never actually, "warring against Israel" (Jos 24:9; Jg 11:25).
The daughters of Moab, mentioned in Nu 25:1, were those with whom Israel "began whoredom," but the main guilt was Midian's, and on Midian fell the vengeance (Nu 25:16-18; 31:1-18). Moab's licentious rites furnished the occasion, but Midian was the active agent in corrupting the people. Balak (contrast, "the former king of Moab," Nu 21:26) was probably not hereditary king but a Midianite; the Midianites taking advantage of Moab's weakness after Sihon's victories to impose a Midianite king. Zippor ("bird"), his father, reminds us of other Midianite names, Oreb "crow," Zeeb "wolf"; Sihon may have imposed him on Moab. The five "princes" or "kings" of Midian were vassal "dukes of Sihon dwelling in the country" (Jos 13:21; Nu 31:8). The licentiousness of the neighboring cities of the plain and Moab's origin accord with the more than common licentiousness attributed to Moab and Midian in Numbers 25. Eglon king of Moab, with Ammon and Amalek, smote Israel and occupied Jericho, but was slain by the Benjamite Ehud (Jg 3:12-30). (See EGLON.)
Saul fought Moab successfully, himself also a Benjamite (1Sa 14:47). David moved away to Moab the land of his ancestry, fleeing from Saul, his and Moab's enemy, and committed to the king his father and mother (1Sa 22:3-4). Probably some act of perfidy of Moab, as the murder or treacherous delivering of his parents to Saul, caused David 20 years afterward to slay two thirds of the people, and make bondmen and tributaries of the rest (2Sa 8:2; in this war Benaiah slew two lion-like men, 2Sa 23:20; compare also Ps 60:8, "Moab is my washpot"; yet among David's heroes was "Ithmah the Moabite," 1Ch 11:22,46), fulfilling Balaam's prophecy, Nu 24:17,19; "out of Jacob shall come he that shall destroy him that remaineth of Ar" (Hebrew, namely, of Moab). Among Solomon's foreign concubines were Moabitish women, to whose god Chemosh he built "a high place on the hill before (facing) Jerusalem" (1Ki 11:1,7,33), where it remained until Josiah defiled it four centuries afterward (2Ki 23:13).
At the severance of Israel from Judah Moab was under Israel, because the Jordan fords lay within Benjamin which in part adhered to the northern kingdom. At Ahab's death Mesh and Dibon, who had paid for the time the enormous tribute, 100,000; lambs and 100,000 rams with the wool, revolted (2Ki 1:1; 3:4-5). (See MESH; DIBON.) His first, step was, he secured the cooperation of Ammon and others enumerated in Ps 83:7-8, in an invasion of Judah, which was before Jehoshaphat's alliance with Ahaziah (2Ch 20:1-35), therefore still earlier than the invasion of Moab by the confederate kings of Edom, Israel (Jehoram, Ahaziah's son), and Judah (2 Kings 3). (See JEHOSHAPHAT; JEHORAM; ELISHA; EDOM.) Mutual dissension, under God, destroyed this heterogeneous mass. Then followed the joint invasion of Moab by Jehoshaphat of Judah, Jehoram of Israel, and the king of Edom (2 Kings 3).
The Septuagint states that the Moabite king assembled all old enough to bear a sword girdle. His mistaking the water glowing red with the morning sun for the mutually shed blood of the invaders (which observe he remembered had happened to his own and the allied forces attacking Jehoshaphat) caused Moab to rush forward for spoil, only to be slaughtered by the allies. At Kirhareseth or Kerak his immolation of his own son struck superstitious fear into the besiegers so that they retired (2Ki 3:27; compare Mic 6:5-8); and then followed all the conquests which Mesha records on the Moabite stone. Then too Moah, indignant at his former ally Edom having joined Israel against him, when Israel and Judah retired, burned the king of Edom alive, reducing his bones to lime; or, as Hebrew tradition represents, tore his body after death from the grave and burned it (Am 2:1). Moabite marauding "bands" thenceforward at intervals invaded Israel, as under Jehoahaz (2Ki 13:20).
A century and a half later, in Isaiah's "burden of Moab" (Isaiah 15-16) Moab appears possessing places which it had held in the beginning N. of Arnon, and which had been vacated by Reuben's removal to Assyria (1Ch 5:25-26). Compare also Jeremiah 48, a century later, about 600 B.C. Isaiah (Isa 16:14) foretells, "within three years, as the years of an hireling (who has a fixed term of engagement, so Moab's time of doom is fixed) ... the glory of Moab shall be contemned." Fulfilled by Shalmaneser or Sargon, who destroyed Samaria and ravaged the whole E. of Jordan (725-723 B.C.). As Ammon, so Moab probably, put itself under Judah's king, Uzziah's protection, to which Isaiah (Isa 16:1, "send ye the lamb (the customary tribute) to the ruler ... unto ... Zion") refers (2Ch 26:8; 2Sa 8:2; 2Ki 3:4). Moab contrasts with Ammon, Edom, Philistia, Amalek, Midian, as wealthy, abounding in vineyards, fruitful fields, and gardens, and civilized to a degree next Israel.
Hence flowed "pride (he is exceeding proud), loftiness, arrogance, and haughtiness of heart" (Jer 48:26,29; Isa 16:6-7). This sin is what brought on Moab destruction, "for he magnified himself against the Lord," boasting against God's people that whereas Israel was fallen Moab remained flourishing (Jas 5:6). In Isa 25:10-12 Moab is the representative of Israel's and the church's foes, especially antichrist, the last enemy. Jehovah, as a "swimmer," strikes out ri
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.
Then the chiefs of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.
And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus says your brother Israel, you know all the travail that has befallen us: How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians afflicted us, and our fathers: read more. And when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and has brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border: Let us pass, I pray you, through your country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's highway, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed your borders. And Edom said unto him, you shall not pass by me, lest I come out against you with the sword. And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the highway: and if I and my cattle drink of your water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet. And he said, you shall not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: therefore Israel turned away from him.
And they journeyed from Oboth, and encamped at Iye Abarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, toward the sun rising.
From there they moved, and encamped on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
And from Bamoth in the valley that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks toward the wasteland.
For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.
For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon. Therefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and established: read more. For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it has consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon. Woe to you, Moab! you are undone, O people of Chemosh: he has given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites. We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reaches unto Medeba.
And the children of Israel set out, and encamped in the plains of Moab on this side of Jordan by Jericho.
I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not near: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall crush the forehead of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not near: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall crush the forehead of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remains of the city.
And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab.
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Harass the Midianites, and smite them: read more. For they harassed you with their wiles, with which they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a leader of Midian, their sister, who was slain in the day of the plague on account of Peor.
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shall you be gathered unto your people. read more. And Moses spoke unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of Midian. Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall you send to the war. So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand. And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males. And they slew the kings of Midian, besides the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.
And they slew the kings of Midian, besides the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword. And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. read more. And they burnt all their cities in which they dwelt, and all their encampments, with fire. And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of people and of animals. And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan near Jericho. And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went forth to meet them outside the camp. And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, who came from the battle. And Moses said unto them, Have you saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that has known man by lying with him. But all the young girls, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
On this side of Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,
The Emim dwelt there in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim; Who also were considered giants, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim.
You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet; (As the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did unto me;) until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the LORD our God gives us.
An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD forever:
An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD forever: Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when you came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when you came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
Get you up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is opposite Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:
And all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck with the princes of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, who were princes of Sihon, dwelling in the country.
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and struck Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. read more. So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man left-handed: and by him the children of Israel sent tribute unto Eglon the king of Moab. But Ehud made himself a dagger which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he did gird it under his clothes upon his right thigh. And he brought the tribute unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man. And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people that bore the tribute. But he himself turned back at the stone images that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret message unto you, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him. And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer chamber, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto you. 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: And the hilt also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and his entrails came out. Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the chamber behind him, and locked them. When he had gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlor were locked, they said, Surely he is relieving himself in his summer chamber. And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the chamber; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the floor. And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the stone images, and escaped unto Seirath. And it came to pass, when he had come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he was before them. And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and allowed not a man to pass over. And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all strong, and all men of valor; and there escaped not a man. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.
And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If you bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head?
And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.
Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray you, pass through your land: but the king of Edom would not listen. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh. Then they went along through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab. read more. And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray you, through your land into my place.
And now are you anything better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,
So Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and wherever he turned himself, he struck them down.
And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray you, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me. And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the stronghold.
And he struck Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he the ones to put to death, and with one full line the ones to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts.
And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lion-like heroes of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in a time of snow:
But king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites;
Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
Because they have forsaken me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.
Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and rendered unto the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool. But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there came 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 in the spring of the year.
And the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.
And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servants the prophets.
The sons of Shelah the son of Judah were, Er the father of Lecah, and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of them that wrought fine linen, of the house of Ashbea, And Jokim, and the men of Cozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who had the dominion in Moab, and Jashubi-lehem. And these are ancient records. read more. These were the potters, and those that dwelt at Netaim and Gederah: there they dwelt with the king for his work.
And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and played the harlot with the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them. And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.
And Shaharaim begat children in the country of Moab, after he had sent away Hushim and Baara his wives. And he begat of Hodesh his wife, Jobab, and Zibia, and Mesha, and Malcam, read more. And Jeuz, and Sachia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of the fathers' houses.
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many great deeds; he slew two lion-like men of Moab: also he went down and slew a lion in a pit on a snowy day.
Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai, and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite,
It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them others besides the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There comes a great multitude against you from beyond the sea on this side of Edom; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi. read more. And Jehoshaphat feared, and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, And said, O LORD God of our fathers, are not you God in heaven? and rule you not over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in your hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand you? Are not you our God, who did drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham your friend forever? And they dwelt in it, and have built you a sanctuary in it for your name, saying, If, when evil comes upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in your presence, (for your name is in this house,) and cry unto you in our affliction, then you will hear and help. And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon you. And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation; And he said, Hearken you, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you king Jehoshaphat, Thus says the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go you down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and you shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel. You shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand you still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high. And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall you be established; believe his prophets, so shall you prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endures forever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, who were come against Judah; and they were defeated. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to slay and destroy them utterly: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, everyone helped to destroy one another. And when Judah came to the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in the gathering of the spoil, it was so much. And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Beracah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Beracah, unto this day. Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies. And they came to Jerusalem with lyres and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD. And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about. And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD. However the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from first to last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel. And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:
And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.
The children of Pahath-moab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve.
But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed at us, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that you do? will you rebel against the king?
But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we built the wall, he was angry, and felt great indignation, and mocked the Jews.
Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had built the wall, and that there was no break left in it; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;)
Moab is my washpot; upon Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph you because of me.
Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also is joined with them: they have helped the children of Lot. Selah.
But they shall swoop down upon the shoulders of the Philistines in the west; they shall plunder together them of the east: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
Send the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.
We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so. Therefore shall Moab wail for Moab, everyone shall wail: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall you mourn; surely they are stricken.
But now the LORD has spoken, saying, Within three years, like the years of a hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be despised, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.
For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the refuse heap. And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swims spreads forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the trickery of their hands. read more. And the fortress of the high fort of your walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.
Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, says the LORD, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. read more. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, says the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that are written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. For many nations and great kings shall be served by them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands. For thus says the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury from my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. And they shall drink, and stagger, and go mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. Then took I the cup from the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me: Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and its kings, and its princes, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse; as it is this day; Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people; And all the foreign people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod, Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus says the LORD to me; Make yourself bonds and yokes, and put them upon your neck, read more. And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah; And command them to say unto their masters, Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall you say unto your masters; I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed right unto me. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his own land comes: and then many nations and great kings shall enslave him. And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, says the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and you should perish. But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, says the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell in it.
Make him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.
We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceedingly proud) his loftiness, and his arrogance, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart.
They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of exhaustion: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the brow of Moab, the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
Concerning the Ammonites, thus says the LORD; Has Israel no sons? has he no heir? why then does their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?
Thus says the Lord GOD; Because Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the nations; Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from its cities which are on its frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim, read more. Unto the men of the east together with the Ammonites, and will give them as a possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations. And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and most of the children of Ammon.
Thus says the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:
O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, from Shittim unto Gilgal; that you may know the righteousness of the LORD. With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? read more. Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, by which they have reproached my people, and made boasts against their borders.
You have condemned and killed the just; and he does not resist you.
Morish
Mo'ab Moabites. Mo'abites
Son of Lot and his eldest daughter; his descendants; and the land which they inhabited. Ge 19:37. No account is given of Moab personally. The territory of his descendants was on the east of the Salt Sea. When the tribe of Reuben obtained their possession, their boundary on the south was the river Arnon, which river was the northern boundary of the Moabites, for they had been driven south by the Amorites before the arrival of Israel. Nu 21:11-30. When the Israelites approached the promised land they were directed not to distress nor contend with Moab, De 2:9, so they passed to the east of them. The Moabites were however filled with terror when they heard that the Amorites had been smitten, and Balak their king hired Balaam to curse Israel. Balaam was compelled by God to bless them instead of cursing them, but he gave to Balak the fatal advice to try to weaken them by seductive alliances (which would cause them to fall under the Lord's discipline), and this, alas, was only too successful: cf. Re 2:14. It was in a valley in the land of Moab that Moses was secretly buried. De 34:6.
In the time of the judges God used Eglon king of Moab to punish Israel, and they served the Moabites eighteen years; but when they cried unto the Lord, He delivered them, and ten thousand of the Moabites were slain. Jg 3:12-30. The relations of Israel with the Moabites were varied. In the prophecy of Isaiah 16 Moab is characteristic of the world in which outcast Israel is hidden: Elimelech and Naomi fled thither from the famine, and David, when Saul was persecuting him, entrusted to their king his father and mother. During his subsequent reign David defeated them and made them tributary. 1Sa 22:3-4; 2Sa 8:2; 1Ch 18:2.
In the time of Jehoshaphat the children of Moab, Ammon and mount Seir attacked Judah, but God made the battle His own and caused them to attack one another. 2Ch 20:1-23. During Ahab's reign they were again tributary, but at his death they threw off their allegiance, but were completely subdued by the united forces of Israel, Judah and Edom. In desperation the king of Moab offered up his eldest son as a sacrifice. 2Ki 3:4-27. They revived to some extent, but were again subdued by Nebuchadnezzar. Jer 27:1-11.
Ruth was a MOABITESS, and so also were some of Solomon's wives, for whom he introduced into Jerusalem the worship of Chemosh the idol of Moab. 2Ki 23:13. The Moabites were not allowed to be received into the congregation of the Lord for ever. De 23:3. The numerous ruins extant in the country of the Moabites show that it was once populously occupied, and it must have been wealthy to have annually paid Israel 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams with the wool.
Moab is denounced in the prophets: it had reproached God's people, and He declared that it should be as Sodom, as the breeding of nettles and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation. Zep 2:8-9. This is its state at present. In the future the king of the north shall enter "into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon," Da 11:40-41; these will be left for Israel to punish: cf. Isa 11:14.
THE MOABITE STONE. In connection with Moab an interesting monument was discovered in 1868 at Dibon (Dhiban) in the land of Moab. It was a stone 3ft. 10in. by 2ft., and contained 34 lines of inscription in the Phoenician character. When the Arabs discovered that two or three nations were desirous of possessing the stone they thought they should gain more by breaking it into pieces: a fire was kindled beneath it, and, when heated, cold water was poured on the top, which broke it. Eventually about two thirds of these pieces were obtained, and are now in the Museum of the Louvre in Paris: a paper cast is in the British Museum. A paper impression had been taken of the stone before it was broken, which, with the pieces recovered, renders it possible to give a nearly complete translation of the inscription.
It is dedicated to Chemosh, the god of Moab, by Mesha. He admits that Chemosh was angry with his land, and that Omri king of Israel took it, and he and his son oppressed them forty years. Then Chemosh had mercy on it, and the king was able to rescue some of the cities, kill the people, and take the spoil, and he built others, of which he gives the names. There can be no doubt that the Mesha of the stone is the same as the Mesha, of scripture. The son of Omri would be Ahab; and in 2Ki 3:5 it says that on the death of Ahab the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. Ahaziah succeeded Ahab, but it was not he that attacked Moab: his reign (called two years) and the beginning of the reign of Jehoram, would give Mesha time to strengthen himself against Israel and attack some of the outlying cities. Scripture is thus confirmed by this interesting monument.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.
And they journeyed from Oboth, and encamped at Iye Abarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, toward the sun rising. From there they moved, and encamped in the valley of Zared. read more. From there they moved, and encamped on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red Sea, and in the brooks of Arnon, And at the stream of the brooks that goes down to the dwelling of Ar, and lies upon the border of Moab. And from there they went to Beer: that is the well of which the LORD spoke unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water. Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing you unto it: The princes dug the well, the nobles of the people dug it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah: And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth: And from Bamoth in the valley that is in the country of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks toward the wasteland. And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, Let me pass through your land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king's highway, until we are past your borders. And Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. And Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was fortified. And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof. For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon. Therefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and established: For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it has consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon. Woe to you, Moab! you are undone, O people of Chemosh: he has given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites. We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reaches unto Medeba.
And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give you their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.
An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD forever:
And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor: but no man knows of his grave unto this day.
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and struck Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. read more. So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man left-handed: and by him the children of Israel sent tribute unto Eglon the king of Moab. But Ehud made himself a dagger which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he did gird it under his clothes upon his right thigh. And he brought the tribute unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man. And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people that bore the tribute. But he himself turned back at the stone images that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret message unto you, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him. And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer chamber, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto you. 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: And the hilt also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and his entrails came out. Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the chamber behind him, and locked them. When he had gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlor were locked, they said, Surely he is relieving himself in his summer chamber. And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the chamber; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the floor. And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the stone images, and escaped unto Seirath. And it came to pass, when he had come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he was before them. And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and allowed not a man to pass over. And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all strong, and all men of valor; and there escaped not a man. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.
And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray you, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me. And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the stronghold.
And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and rendered unto the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool. But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel. read more. And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me: will you go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as you are, my people as your people, and my horses as your horses. And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom. So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom: and they made a circuit of seven days' journey: and there was no water for the army, and for the cattle that followed them. And the king of Israel said, Alas! the LORD has called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab! But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of the LORD by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah. And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the LORD is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with you? get you to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the LORD has called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab. And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you. But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him. And he said, Thus says the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches. For thus says the LORD, You shall not see wind, neither shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that you may drink, both you, and your cattle, and your animals. And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand. And you shall smite every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up all wells of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones. And it came to pass in the morning, when the grain offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water. And when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put on armor, and older, and stood in the border. And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood: And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil. And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck down the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country. And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and covered it; and they stopped up all the wells of water, and cut down all the good trees: only in Kir-haraseth left they its stones; the slingers surrounded it, and conquered it. And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom: but they could not. Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.
And the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.
It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them others besides the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There comes a great multitude against you from beyond the sea on this side of Edom; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi. read more. And Jehoshaphat feared, and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, And said, O LORD God of our fathers, are not you God in heaven? and rule you not over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in your hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand you? Are not you our God, who did drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham your friend forever? And they dwelt in it, and have built you a sanctuary in it for your name, saying, If, when evil comes upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in your presence, (for your name is in this house,) and cry unto you in our affliction, then you will hear and help. And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon you. And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation; And he said, Hearken you, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you king Jehoshaphat, Thus says the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go you down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and you shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel. You shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand you still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high. And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall you be established; believe his prophets, so shall you prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endures forever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, who were come against Judah; and they were defeated. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to slay and destroy them utterly: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, everyone helped to destroy one another.
But they shall swoop down upon the shoulders of the Philistines in the west; they shall plunder together them of the east: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus says the LORD to me; Make yourself bonds and yokes, and put them upon your neck, read more. And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah; And command them to say unto their masters, Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall you say unto your masters; I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed right unto me. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his own land comes: and then many nations and great kings shall enslave him. And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, says the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. Therefore hearken not you to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon: For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and you should perish. But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, says the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell in it.
And at the time of the end shall the king of the south attack him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass through. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and most of the children of Ammon.
I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, by which they have reproached my people, and made boasts against their borders. Therefore as I live, says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of weeds, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall plunder them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.
But I have a few things against you, because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
Smith
Mo'ab
(of his father), Mo'abites. Moab was the son of the Lot's eldest daughter, the progenitor of the Moabites. Zoar was the cradle of the race of Lot. From this centre the brother tribes spread themselves. The Moabites first inhabited the rich highlands which crown the eastern side of the chasm of the Dead Sea, extending as far north as the mountain of Gilead, from which country they expelled the Emims, the original inhabitants,
De 2:11
but they themselves were afterward driven southward by the warlike Amorites, who had crossed the Jordan, and were confined to the country south of the river Arnon, which formed their northern boundary.
The territory occupied by Moab at the period of its greatest extent, before the invasion of the Amorites, divided itself naturally into three distinct and independent portions:-- (1) The enclosed corner or canton south of the Arnon was the "field of Moab."
etc. (2) The more open rolling country north of the Arnon, opposite Jericho, and up to the hills of Gilead, was the "land of Moab."
De 1:5; 32:49
etc. (3) The sunk district in the tropical depths of the Jordan valley.
etc. The Israelites, in entering the promised land, did not pass through the Moabites,
but conquered the Amorites, who occupied the country from which the Moabites had been so lately expelled. After the conquest of Canaan the relations of Moab with Israel were of a mixed character, sometimes warlike and sometimes peaceable. With the tribe of Benjamin they had at least one severe struggle, in union with their kindred the Ammonites.
The story of Ruth, on the other hand, testifies to the existence of a friendly intercourse between Moab and Bethlehem, one of the towns of Judah. By his descent from Ruth, David may be said to have had Moabite blood in his veins. He committed his parents to the protection of the king of Moab, when hard pressed by Saul.
But here all friendly relations stop forever. The next time the name is mentioned is in the account of David's war, who made the Moabites tributary.
At the disruption of the kingdom Moab seems to have fallen to the northern realm. At the death of Ahab the Moabites refused to pay tribute and asserted their independence, making war upon the kingdom of Judah.
... As a natural consequence of the late events, Israel, Judah and Edom united in an attack on Moab, resulting in the complete overthrow of the Moabites. Falling back into their own country, they were followed and their cities and farms destroyed. Finally, shut up within the walls of his own capital, the king, Mesha, in the sight of the thousands who covered the sides of that vast amphitheater, killed and burnt his child as a propitiatory sacrifice to the cruel gods of his country. Isaiah, chs.
predicts the utter annihilation of the Moabites; and they are frequently denounced by the subsequent prophets. For the religion of the Moabites see CHEMOSH; MOLECH; PEOR.
See Chemosh
See Molech
See Peor
See also Tristram's "Land of Moab." Present condition. --(Noldeke says that the extinction of the Moabites was about A.D. 200, at the time when the Yemen tribes Galib and Gassara entered the eastern districts of the Jordan. Since A.D. 536 the last trace of the name Moab, which lingered in the town of Kir-moab, has given place to Kerak, its modern name. Over the whole region are scattered many ruins of ancient cities; and while the country is almost bare of larger vegetation, it is still a rich pasture-ground, with occasional fields of grain. The land thus gives evidence of its former wealth and power. --ED.)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
From there they moved, and encamped on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that extends from the border of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
And the children of Israel set out, and encamped in the plains of Moab on this side of Jordan by Jericho.
On this side of Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,
Who also were considered giants, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim.
Get you up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is opposite Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD. And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and struck Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. read more. So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man left-handed: and by him the children of Israel sent tribute unto Eglon the king of Moab. But Ehud made himself a dagger which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he did gird it under his clothes upon his right thigh. And he brought the tribute unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man. And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people that bore the tribute. But he himself turned back at the stone images that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret message unto you, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him. And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer chamber, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto you. 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: And the hilt also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and his entrails came out. Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the chamber behind him, and locked them. When he had gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlor were locked, they said, Surely he is relieving himself in his summer chamber. And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the chamber; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the floor. And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the stone images, and escaped unto Seirath. And it came to pass, when he had come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he was before them. And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and allowed not a man to pass over. And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all strong, and all men of valor; and there escaped not a man. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.
Then they went along through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.
Then they went along through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and encamped on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.
Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.
Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them food.
And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray you, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me. And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the stronghold.
And he struck Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he the ones to put to death, and with one full line the ones to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts.
And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah his youngest son king in his stead: for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.
Watsons
Moab was the son of Lot, and of his eldest daughter,Ge 19:31, &c. He was born about the same time as Isaac, A.M. 2108, and was father of the Moabites, whose habitation lay beyond Jordan and the Dead Sea, on both sides of the river Arnon. Their capital city was situated on that river, and was called Ar or Areopolis, or Ariol of Moab, or Rabbah Moab, that is, the capital of Moab, or Kirharesh, that is, a city with brick walls. This country was originally possessed by a race of giants called Emim, De 2:11-12. The Moabites conquered them, and afterward the Amorites took a part from the Moabites, Jg 11:13. Moses conquered that part which belonged to the Amorites, and gave it to the tribe of Reuben. The Moabites were spared by Moses, for God had restricted him, De 2:9. But there always was a great antipathy between the Moabites and the Israelites, which occasioned many wars between them. Balaam seduced the Hebrews to idolatry and uncleanness, by means of the daughters of Moab, Nu 25:1-2; and Balak, king of this people, endeavoured to prevail on Balaam to curse Israel. God ordained that the Moabites should not enter into the congregation of his people, because they had the inhumanity to refuse the Israelites a passage through their country, nor would they supply them with bread and water in their necessity. Eglon, king of the Moabites, was one of the first that oppressed Israel after the death of Joshua. Ehud killed Eglon, and Israel expelled the Moabites, Jg 3:12, &c. Hanun king of the Ammonites having insulted David's ambassadors, David made war against him, and subdued Moab and Ammon; under which subjection they continued till the separation of the ten tribes. The Ammonites and the Moabites continued in subjection to the kings of Israel to the death of Ahab. Presently after the death of Ahab the Moabites began to revolt, 2Ki 3:4-5. Mesha, king of Moab, refused the tribute of a hundred thousand lambs, and as many rams, which till then had been customarily paid, either yearly, or at the beginning of every reign; which of these two is not clearly expressed in Scripture. The reign of Ahaziah was too short to make war with them; but Jehoram, son of Ahab, and brother to Ahaziah, having ascended the throne, thought of reducing them to obedience. He invited Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, who with the king of Edom, then his vassal, entered Moab, where they were near perishing with thirst, but were miraculously relieved, 2Ki 3:16, &c.
It is not easy to ascertain what were the circumstances of the Moabites from this time; but Isaiah, at the beginning of the reign of King Hezekiah, threatens them with a calamity, which was to happen three years after his prediction, and which probably referred to the war that Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, made with the ten tribes and the other people beyond Jordan. Am 1:13, &c, also foretold great miseries to them, which, probably, they suffered under Uzziah and Jothan, kings of Judah, or under Shalmaneser, 2Ch 26:7-8; 27:5; or, lastly, in the war of Nebuchadnezzar, five years after the destruction of Jerusalem. This prince carried them captive beyond the Euphrates, as the prophets had threatened, Jer 9:26; 12:14-15; 25:11-12; 48:47, &c; 49:3, 6, 39; 50:16; and Cyrus sent them home again, as he did the rest of the captives. After their return from captivity they multiplied, and fortified themselves, as the Jews did, and other neighbouring people, still in subjection to the kings of Persia. They were afterward conquered by Alexander the Great, and were in obedience to the kings of Syria and Egypt successively, and finally to the Romans. There is a probability, also that in the later times of the Jewish republic they obeyed the Asmonean kings, and afterward Herod the Great. The principal deities of the Moabites were Chemosh and Baal-peor.
The prophecies concerning Moab are numerous and remarkable. There are, says Keith, abundant predictions which refer so clearly to its modern state, that there is scarcely a single feature peculiar to the land of Moab, as it now exists, which was not marked by the prophets in their delineation of the low condition to which, from the height of its wickedness and haughtiness, it was finally to be brought down.
The land of Moab lay to the east and south-east of Judea, and bordered on the east, north-east, and partly on the south of the Dead Sea. Its early history is nearly analogous to that of Ammon; and the soil, though perhaps more diversified, is, in many places where the desert and plains of salt have not encroached on its borders, of equal fertility. There are manifest and abundant vestiges of its ancient greatness: the whole of the plains are covered with the sites of towns, on every eminence or spot convenient for the construction of one; and as the land is capable of rich cultivation, there can be no doubt that the country now so deserted once presented a continued picture of plenty and fertility. The form of fields is still visible; and there are the remains of Roman highways, which in some places are completely paved, and on which there are mile stones of the times of Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, and Severus, with the number of the miles legible upon them. Wherever any spot is cultivated the corn is luxuriant; and the riches of the soil cannot perhaps be more clearly illustrated than by the fact, that one grain of Heshbon wheat exceeds in dimensions two of the ordinary sort, and more than double the number of grains grow on the stalk. The frequency, and almost, in many instances, the close vicinity of the sites of the ancient towns, prove that the population of the country was formerly proportioned to its natural fertility. Such evidence may surely suffice to prove that the country was well cultivated and peopled at a period so long posterior to the date of the predictions, that no cause less than supernatural could have existed at the time when they were delivered, which could have authorized the assertion with the least probability or apparent possibility of its truth, that Moab would ever have been reduced to that state of great and permanent desolation in which it has continued for so many ages, and which vindicates and ratifies to this hour the truth of the Scriptural prophecies. The cities of Moab were to be "desolate without any to dwell therein;" no city was to escape: Moab was to "flee away." And the cities of Moab have all disappeared. Their place, together with the adjoining part of Idumea, is characterized, in the map of Volney's Travels, by the ruins of towns. His information respecting these ruins was derived from some of the wandering Arabs; and its accuracy has been fully corroborated by the testimony of different European travellers of high respectability and undoubted veracity, who have since visited this devastated region. The whole country abounds with ruins; and Burckhardt, who encountered many difficulties in so desolate and dangerous a land, thus records the brief history of a few of them: "The ruins of Eleale, Heshbon, Meon, Medaba, Dibon, Aroer, still subsist to illustrate the history of the Beni Israel." And it might with equal truth have been added, that they still subsist to confirm the inspiration of the Jewish Scriptures, or to prove that the seers of Israel were the prophets of God; for the desolation of each of these very cities was a theme of a prediction. Every thing worthy of observation respecting them has been detailed, not only in Burckhardt's "Travels in Syria," but also by Seetzen, and, more recently, by Captains Irby and Mangles, who, along with Mr. Bankes and Mr. Leigh, visited this deserted district. The predicted judgment has fallen with such truth upon these cities, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab far and near, and they are so utterly "broken down," that even the prying curiosity of such indefatigable travellers could discover among a multiplicity of ruins only a few remains so entire as to be worthy of particular notice. The subjoined description is drawn from their united testimony: Among the ruins of El Aal (Eleale) are a number of large cisterns, fragments of buildings, and foundations of houses. At Heshban, (Heshbon,) are the ruins of a large ancien
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man on the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:
And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.
And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give you their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.
Who also were considered giants, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim. The Horites also dwelt in Seir formerly; but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which the LORD gave unto them.
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.
And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.
And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and rendered unto the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool. But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-baal, and the Mehunites. And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.
He fought also with the king of the Ammonites, and prevailed against them. And the children of Ammon gave him the same year a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the children of Ammon pay unto him, both the second year, and the third.
Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the farthest corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.
Thus says the LORD: Against all my evil neighbors, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. And it shall come to pass, after I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, says the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, says the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
Thus says the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they have ripped up the women with child in Gilead, that they might enlarge their border: