Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
The seed of the father, or, according to others, the desirable land, the eldest son of Lot (Gen. 19:37), of incestuous birth. ) Used to denote the people of Moab (Num. 22:3-14; Judg. 3:30; 2 Sam. 8:2; Jer. 48:11, 13). ) The land of Moab (Jer. 48:24), called also the “country of Moab” (Ruth 1:2, 6; 2:6), on the east of Jordan and the Dead Sea, and south of the Arnon (Num. 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 (Num. 22:1; 26:63; Josh. 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 (Num. 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” (Deut. 34:5, 6).
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)
(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, (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. ” (1:5; 32:49) etc. (3) The sunk district in the tropical depths of the Jordan valley.
(Numbers 22:1) etc. The Israelites, in entering the promised land, did not pass through the Moabites, (Judges 11:18) 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.
(Judges 3:12-30) 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. (1 Samuel 22:3,4) 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.
(2 Samuel 8:2; 1 Chronicles 18:2) 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. (2 Chronicles 22:1) ... 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. (Isaiah 15,16,25:10-12) 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. D. 200, at the time when the Yemen tribes Galib and Gassara entered the eastern districts of the Jordan.
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.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898) & Schaff's Bible Dictionary
MO'AB (of the father), a name used for the Moabites, and also for their territory. Num 22:3-14; Jud 3:30; 2 Sam 8:2; 2 Kgs 1:1; Jer 48:4. The territory of the Moabites, originally inhabited by the Emims, Deut 2:10, lay on the east of the Dead Sea and the Jordan, strictly on the south of the torrent Arnon, Num 21:13; Ruth 1:1-2; Am 2:6; but in a wider sense it included also the region anciently occupied by the Amorites. Num 21:32-33, Rev 22:1; Num 26:3; Num 33:48; Deut 34:1. The territory was 50 miles long and 20 wide.
It was divided into three portions, each bearing a distinct name: (1) Land of Moab, Deut 1:5, lying between the Arnon and the Jabbok; (2) The field of Moab, a tract south of the Arnon, Ruth 1:2; (3) The plains of Moab, the tract in the Jordan valley opposite Jericho, Num 22:1. Physical Features. - Except the narrow strip in the valley of the Jordan, Moab is nearly all table-land, consisting of an uneven or rolling plateau, elevated above Mountains of Moab. the Mediterranean about 3200 feet. At the north this plateau slopes gently into a plain, and on the east into the Syrian desert.
The principal streams are the Arnon and the Jabbok and the Jordan. It is admirably suited for pasture, as shown by Mesha. who paid a tribute of 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams. 2 Kgs 3:4. History. - The race of Moab, having its origin about the time of the destruction of the cities of the plain, and cradled in the mountains above Zoar, gradually extended over the region east of the Dead Sea, expelling the ancient original inhabitants, the Emim. Deut 2:11. Five hundred years later, when the Israelites were approaching the Promised Land, the Moabites had become a great nation.
But they had been driven south of the Arnon by the warlike Amorites. Num 21:13; Jud 11:18. Balak and Midian called Balaam to curse the chosen people. Num 22:4-5. The Israelites mastered the region from north of the Arnon, but Moab was allowed to hold the cities of the tract taken by the Israelites from the Amorite king, while the tribe of Reuben, to whom the district was assigned, dwelt in tents and tended their flocks on the fine pasture-ground. The district south of the Arnon remained in the possession of Moab.
The idolatries of Moab, and especially the worship of its god Chemosh, exercised an irresistible charm for the Israelites, and the Reubenites were greatly corrupted. The relations between the Moabites and Israelites were at times amicable, but more frequently hostile. During the period of the Judges the Moabites compelled the Israelites to pay tribute until King Eglon was killed by Ehud. Judg 3. Ruth, the great-grandmother of David, was a Moabitess, and David entrusted the care of his father and mother to the king of Moab. 1 Sam 22:4.
Saul conducted a successful campaign against Moab, and David inflicted a terrible punishment upon them. 2 Sam 8:2. After Solomon's death Moab fell to the northern kingdom, and after Ahab's death the Moabites refused to pay tribute. The Moabites invaded Judaea in the reign of Jehoshaphat, and were discomfited. Later, their own country was overrun by Jehoram and Jehoshaphat, the towns destroyed, the wells stopped, etc., and Mesha, shut up in his capital, sacrificed his own son. 2 Kgs 3:6-27. At a later period Moab was sometimes dependent and sometimes independent.
It was allied with the Chaldaeans against Judah in the reign of Jehoiakim, 2 Kgs 24:2, and the destruction of God's chosen people was received with a delight for which God threatened punishment. Eze 25:8-11; Zeph 2:8-10. The fulfilment of these prophecies is noted at the end of this article. Modern Discoveries and Present Condition. - Among the travellers who have visited Moab are Burckhardt, Seetzen, Buckingham, Irby and Mangles, De Saulcy, Porter, Tristram, Palmer, Drake, Paine, and Merrill. A large number of ruins have been discovered.
Palmer counted eight fortified towns in view from a single eminence. The principal ruins are those of Rabbath-moab, Kerak, Dibon, Medeba, Main, and Umm Rasas. At Kerak (Kir-hareseth) are very interesting and remarkable ruins. Dibon is noted as the place at which the famous Moabite Stone was discovered. This stone corroborates the Bible history of King Mesha.
Hopes were entertained that other tablets of that character might be found, but Palmer, who investigated every written stone reported by the Arabs, came to the conclusion that there does not remain above ground a single inscribed stone of any importance. Everything in Moab speaks of its former wealth and cultivation. The soil is badly tended by the few Arab tribes who inhabit it, but there are extensive fields of grain. The Arabs are an essentially pastoral people, having great herds of cattle.
Sour or fresh milk often takes the place of water, and the modern traveller finds the customs the same as in the time of Sisera. Jud 4:18-19. Prophecies Fulfilled. - Jeremiah describes Moab as very prosperous, but the prophetic threats of its doom are most terrific, as set off against the restoration of Israel. Jer 48. Porter indicates how completely those various prophecies have been fulfilled, but some of his statements require confirmation. From Salcah he saw upward of thirty deserted towns. Jer 48:15-24.
The neglected and wild vineyards and fig trees are rifled by the Bedouin every year in their periodical raids, vs. Jer 48:32-33. The inhabitants hide themselves in the mountain-fastnesses, oppressed by the robbers of the desert on the one hand and the robbers of the government on the other, vs. Acts 20:28, Jer 48:44. Cyril Graham, who explored this region, found cities with buildings in a good state of preservation, yet everywhere uninhabited. " The long-predicted doom of Moab is now fulfilled, and the forty eighth chapter of Jeremiah is verified on the spot by the traveller.
There are twenty-seven references to Moab in this chapter, and one hundred and twenty one in the Scriptures. See Ar, Dibon, Kir-hareseth, Moabite Stone. See p. 232.
Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869)
of his father