Reference: Moabite
Easton
the designation of a tribe descended from Moab, the son of Lot (Ge 19:37). From Zoar, the cradle of this tribe, on the south-eastern border of the Dead Sea, they gradually spread over the region on the east of Jordan. Rameses II., the Pharaoh of the Oppression, enumerates Moab (Muab) among his conquests. Shortly before the Exodus, the warlike Amorites crossed the Jordan under Sihon their king and drove the Moabites (Nu 21:26-30) out of the region between the Arnon and the Jabbok, and occupied it, making Heshbon their capital. They were then confined to the territory to the south of the Arnon.
On their journey the Israelites did not pass through Moab, but through the "wilderness" to the east (De 2:8; Jg 11:18), at length reaching the country to the north of the Arnon. Here they remained for some time till they had conquered Bashan (see Sihon; Og). The Moabites were alarmed, and their king, Balak, sought aid from the Midianites (Nu 22:2-4). It was while they were here that the visit of Balaam (q.v.) to Balak took place. (See Moses.)
After the Conquest, the Moabites maintained hostile relations with the Israelites, and frequently harassed them in war (Jg 3:12-30; 1Sa 14). The story of Ruth, however, shows the existence of friendly relations between Moab and Bethlehem. By his descent from Ruth, David may be said to have had Moabite blood in his veins. Yet there was war between David and the Moabites (2Sa 8:2; 23:20; 1Ch 18:2), from whom he took great spoil (2Sa 8:2,11-12; 1Ch 11:22; 18:11).
During the one hundred and fifty years which followed the defeat of the Moabites, after the death of Ahab (see Mesha), they regained, apparently, much of their former prosperty. At this time Isaiah (Isa 15:1) delivered his "burden of Moab," predicting the coming of judgment on that land (comp. 2Ki 17:3; 18:9; 1Ch 5:25-26). Between the time of Isaiah and the commencement of the Babylonian captivity we have very seldom any reference to Moab (Jer 25:21; 27:3; 40:11; Zep 2:8-10).
After the Return, it was Sanballat, a Moabite, who took chief part in seeking to prevent the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Ne 2:19; 4:1; 6:1).
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.
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. read more. 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."
Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel did to the Amorites, and Moab was very terrified in the presence of the people because {they} [were] numerous; and Moab dreaded the presence of the {Israelites}. read more. And Moab said to the elders of Midian, "Now the crowd will lick up all around us, like a bull devours the grass of the field." And Balak son of Zippor [was] king of Moab at that time.
And so we passed by our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir, past the road of the Arabah, from Elath and Ezion Geber, and we turned and traveled along the route of the desert of Moab.
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.
Then they traveled through the wilderness, went around the land of Edom and Moab, and came to {the east} side of the land of Moab, and they encamped beyond [the] Arnon; and they did not go into the territory of Moab because [the] Arnon [was] the border of Moab.
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.
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.
King David dedicated them also to Yahweh [along] with the silver and the gold that he had dedicated from all of the nations which he had subdued; 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.
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of Ish-Hai, [was] a great [man] of deeds from Kabzeel. He struck down two sons of Ariel of Moab, and he went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.
Shalmaneser the king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid tribute to him.
It happened in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, that [is,] the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came against Samaria and laid siege against her.
But Sanballat the Horonite, the Ammonite servant Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab heard it, and they mocked and despised us, saying, "What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?"
Now it happened when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, [he] became angry and greatly provoked, and he mocked the Jews.
Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and to the rest of our enemies that I had built the wall and that no gap was left in it--though up to that time I had not erected doors in the gates--
An oracle of Moab: Because Ar is devastated in a night, Moab is destroyed; because Kir of Moab is devastated in a night, it is destroyed.
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 in [the] hand of [the] envoys who have come [to] Jerusalem, to Zedekiah, the king of Judah.
And also all the Judeans who [were] in Moab, and among the {Ammonites}, and in Edom, and who [were] in all the lands, [when] they heard that the king of Babylon had given a remnant to Judah and that he had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, [in an official position] over them,
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.