Editing Moab (section)

==Biblical narratives==
According to the biblical account, Moab and [[Ammon]] were born to [[Lot (biblical)|Lot]] and Lot's elder and younger daughters, respectively, in the aftermath of the destruction of [[Sodom and Gomorrah]]. The Bible refers to both the Moabites and Ammonites as Lot's sons, born of incest with his daughters ({{bibleverse||Genesis|19:37–38|NIV}}).

The Moabites first inhabited the rich highlands at the eastern side of the chasm of the Dead Sea, extending as far as [[Wadi Mujib]] to [[Wadi Hasa]],<ref name="auto">{{cite book |author=وزارة التربية والتعليم |title=التاريخ الجزء الأول الصف 8 |publisher=المملكة الاردنية الهاشمية: إدارة المناهج والكتب |edition=2021 |page=8}}</ref> from which country they expelled the [[Emite|Emim]], the original inhabitants ([[Deuteronomy]] {{Bibleverse||Deut|2:11|1000|2:11}}), but they themselves were afterward driven southward by warlike tribes of [[Amorites]], who had crossed the [[river Jordan]]. These Amorites, described in the Bible as being ruled by King [[Sihon]], confined the Moabites to the country south of the river Arnon, which formed their northern boundary ([[Book of Numbers|Numbers]] {{Bibleverse||Num|21:13|1000|21:13}}; [[Book of Judges|Judges]] {{Bibleverse||Judges|11:18|1000|11:18}}).

God renewed his [[Covenant (biblical)|covenant]] with the Israelites at Moab before the Israelites entered the [[Promised Land]]({{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|29:1|NIV}}). Moses died there ({{bibleverse||Deut|34:5|NIV}}), prevented by God from entering the Promised Land. He was buried in an unknown location in Moab and the Israelites spent a period of thirty days there in [[Bereavement in Judaism|mourning]] ({{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|34:6–8|NIV}}).

According to the Book of Judges, the Israelites did not pass through the land of the Moabites ({{bibleverse||Judges|11:18|NIV}}), but conquered Sihon's kingdom and his capital at [[Heshbon]]. 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 and the [[Amalek]]ites ({{bibleverse|Judges|3:12–30}}). The Benjaminite [[shofet]] [[Ehud ben Gera]] assassinated the Moabite king [[Eglon (king)|Eglon]] and led an Israelite army against the Moabites at a ford of the Jordan river, killing many of them.

[[File:Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld- Ruth im Feld des Boaz.jpg|thumb|''Ruth in the fields of Boaz'' by [[Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld]]]]

The [[Book of Ruth]] testifies to friendly relations between Moab and [[Bethlehem]], one of the towns of the [[tribe of Judah]]. By his descent from Ruth, [[King David|David]] may be said to have been part Moabite. He committed his parents to the protection of the king of Moab (who may have been his kinsman), when hard pressed by [[King 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 ([[Books of Samuel|2 Samuel]] {{Bibleverse||2 Sam|8:2|1000|8:2}}; [[Books of Chronicles|1 Chronicles]] {{Bibleverse||1 Chr|18:2|1000|18:2}}). Moab may have been under the rule of an Israelite governor during this period; among the exiles who returned to Judea from [[Babylonia]] were a clan descended from [[Pahath-Moab]], whose name means "ruler of Moab". The [[Moabites|Moabite]] Ruth is regarded as a prototype of a convert to [[Judaism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ostmeyer |first=Karl-Heinrich |chapter=No Citizenship for Ruth? Names as Access Permissions in the Scroll of Ruth |series=Religion and Human Rights |date=2021 |volume=8 |isbn=978-3-030-83277-3 |pages=245–272 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-83277-3_13 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-83277-3_13 |title=Religion, Citizenship and Democracy |s2cid=245688505 |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-83277-3}}</ref>

At the disruption of the kingdom under the reign of [[Rehoboam]], Moab seems to have been absorbed into the northern realm. It continued in vassalage to the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] until the death of [[Ahab]] which according to [[E. R. Thiele]]'s reckoning was in about 853 BCE,<ref>Edwin Thiele, ''[[The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings]]'', (1st ed.; New York: Macmillan, 1951; 2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965; 3rd ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983). {{ISBN|0-8254-3825-X}}, 9780825438257.</ref> when the Moabites refused to pay tribute and asserted their independence, making war upon the kingdom of Judah ({{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|22:1|NIV}}).

After the death of [[Ahab]] in about 853 BCE, the Moabites under [[Mesha]] rebelled against [[Jehoram of Israel|Jehoram]], who allied himself with [[Jehoshaphat]], King of the [[Kingdom of Judah]], and with the King of Edom. According to the Bible, the prophet [[Elisha]] directed the Israelites to dig a series of ditches between themselves and the enemy, and during the night these channels were miraculously filled with water which appeared red as blood in the morning light.

According to the biblical account, the crimson color deceived the Moabites into thinking that the Israelites, and their allies, had attacked one another. Eager to acquire plunder, they were ambushed and defeated by the Israelites ({{bibleverse|2|Kings|3|NIV}}). According to Mesha's inscription on the [[Mesha Stele]], however, he was completely victorious and regained all the territory of which Israel had deprived him. This battle is the last important date in the history of the Moabites as recorded in the Bible. In the year of Elisha's death they invaded Israel ({{bibleverse|2|Kings|13:20|NIV}}) and later aided Nebuchadnezzar in his expedition against [[Jehoiakim]] ({{bibleverse|2|Kings|24:2|NIV}}).

Allusions to Moab are frequent in the [[Nevi'im|prophetical books]] ({{bibleverse||Isa|25:10|NIV}}; {{bibleverse||Ezek|25:8–11|NIV}}; {{bibleverse||Amos|2:1–3|NIV}}; {{bibleverse||Zephaniah|2:8–11|NIV}}). Two chapters of Isaiah (15 and 16) and one of Jeremiah (48) are devoted to the "burden of Moab". Its prosperity and pride, which the Israelites believed incurred the wrath of [[Yahweh|God]], are frequently mentioned ({{bibleverse||Isa|16:6|NIV}}; {{bibleverse||Jer|48:11–29|NIV}}; {{bibleverse||Zephaniah|2:10|NIV}}), and their contempt for Israel is once expressly noted ({{bibleverse|Jer.|48:27}}).  Moab would be dealt with during the time of the Messiah's rulership according to the prophets.<ref>{{bibleverse||Num|24:14|NASB}}, {{bibleverse||Num|24:17|NASB}}, {{bibleverse||Isa|11:14|NASB}}.</ref> The [[book of Zephaniah]] states that Moab would become "a permanent desolation".<ref>{{bibleverse||Zephaniah|2:9|NASB}}</ref>

Moab is also made reference to in the [[Meqabyan#Second Book of Ethiopian Maccabees (2 Meqabyan)|2 Meqabyan]], a book considered [[Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon|canonical]] in the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://torahofyeshuah.blogspot.com/2015/07/book-of-meqabyan-i-iii.html |title=Torah of Yeshuah: Book of Meqabyan I - III |access-date=2019-11-10 |archive-date=2019-09-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923192431/http://torahofyeshuah.blogspot.com/2015/07/book-of-meqabyan-i-iii.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In that text, a Moabite king named Maccabeus joins forces with Edom and Amalek to attack Israel, later repenting of his sins and adopting the Israelite religion.

===In Jewish tradition===
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Moabites were not hospitable to the Israelites who exited [[Egypt]] and hired [[Balaam]] to curse them. As a consequence, male Moabites were excluded by [[Torah]] law<ref>{{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|23:4|HE}}</ref> from marrying Jewish women.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Klein |first1=Reuven Chaim |year=2015 |title=The Iniquities of Ammon and Moab
 | url=https://jbqnew.jewishbible.org/assets/Uploads/432/jbq_432_kleinmoab.pdf |journal=Jewish Bible Quarterly
|volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=93–100 |issn=0792-3910}}</ref>

The term "tenth generation" used in connection with that prohibition is considered an idiom, used for an unlimited time, as opposed to the third generation, which allows an Egyptian convert to marry into the community. The [[Talmud]] expresses the view that the prohibition applied only to male Moabites, who were not allowed to marry born Jews or legitimate converts. Female Moabites, when converted to Judaism, were permitted to marry with only the normal prohibition of a convert marrying a kohen (priest) applying. However, the prohibition was not followed during the [[Babylonian captivity]], and Ezra and Nehemiah sought to compel a return to the law because men had been marrying women who had not been converted at all ({{bibleverse||Ezra|9:1–2|HE}}, 12; {{bibleverse||Nehemiah|13:23–25|HE}}). The heir of King Solomon was [[Rehoboam]], the son of an Ammonite woman, [[Naamah (wife of Solomon)|Naamah]] ({{bibleverse|1|Kings|14:21|HE}}).

On the other hand, the marriages of the [[Bethlehem]] [[Ephrath]]ites (of the [[tribe of Judah]]) [[Mahlon and Chilion]] to the Moabite women [[Orpah]] and [[Ruth (biblical figure)|Ruth]] ({{bibleverse||Ruth|1:2–4|HE}}), and the marriage of the latter, after her husband's death, to [[Boaz]] ({{bibleverse||Ruth|4:10–13|HE}}) who by her was the great-grandfather of [[David]], are mentioned with no shade of reproach. The Talmudic explanation, however, is that the language of the law applies only to Moabite and Ammonite ''men'' (Hebrew, like all Semitic languages, has [[grammatical gender]]). The Talmud also states that the prophet [[Samuel]] wrote the Book of Ruth to settle the dispute as the rule had been forgotten since the time of [[Boaz]]. Another interpretation is that the [[Book of Ruth]] is simply reporting the events in an impartial fashion, leaving any praise or condemnation to be done by the reader.

The Babylonian Talmud in [[Yevamot]] 76B explains that one of the reasons was the Ammonites did not greet the Children of Israel with friendship and the Moabites hired [[Balaam]] to curse them. The difference in the responses of the two people led to God allowing the Jewish people to harass the Moabites (but not go to war) but forbade them to even harass the Ammonites ({{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|23:3–4|HE}}).

[[Jehoash of Judah|Jehoash]] was one of the four men who pretended to be gods.<ref>The other three were Pharaoh; Hiram and Nebuchadnezzar (Louis Ginzberg's The Legends of the Jews From Moses to Esther; Notes for Volumes Three and Four(p.423)</ref> He was persuaded thereto particularly by the princes, who said to him. "Wert thou not a god thou couldst not come out alive from the Holy of Holies" (Ex R. viii. 3). He was assassinated by two of his servants, one of whom was the son of an Ammonite woman and the other the offspring of a Moabite ({{bibleverse|2|Chron.|24:26|HE}}); for God said: "Let the descendants of the two ungrateful families chastise the ungrateful Joash" ([[Yalk.]], Ex. 262). Moab and Ammon were the two offspring of [[Lot (biblical person)|Lot]]'s incest with his two daughters as described in {{bibleverse||Gen.|19:30–38|HE}}.

Jehoshaphet  subsequently joined [[Jehoram of Israel]] in a war against the Moabites, who were under tribute to Israel. The Moabites were subdued, but seeing [[Mesha]]'s act of offering his own son (and singular heir) as a [[Propitiation|propitiatory]] [[human sacrifice]] on the walls of [[Kir of Moab]] filled Israel with horror, and they withdrew and returned to their own land.<ref>''Bible'' [[2 Kings 3#Verses 4–27|2 Kings 3:4–27]]</ref>

According to the [[Book of Jeremiah]], Moab was exiled to [[Babylon]] for his arrogance and idolatry. According to [[Rashi]], it was also due to their gross ingratitude even though [[Abraham]], Israel's ancestor, had saved [[Lot (biblical person)|Lot]], Moab's ancestor from [[Sodom and Gomorrah|Sodom]]. Jeremiah prophesies that Moab's captivity will be returned in the [[Jewish eschatology|end of days]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Jeremiah 48, Tanach |publisher=ArtScroll |location=Brooklyn, New York |pages=1187}}</ref>

The book of Zephaniah states that "Moab will assuredly be like Sodom, and the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah—Ground overgrown with weeds and full of salt mines, and a permanent desolation." (2:9). The prophecy regarding their defeat by the Israelites is linked to the conquests by the Jewish [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean]] king [[Alexander Jannaeus]]. During that period, the Moabites were called the "Arabian Moabites".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023 |title=Zephaniah 2 Commentary: Gill's Exposition |url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/zephaniah/2.htm |website=Biblehub}}</ref>

===Boundaries in the Hebrew Bible===
In {{bibleverse||Ezekiel|25:9|HE}} the boundaries are given as being marked by [[Beth-jeshimoth]] (north), [[Baal-meon]] (east), and [[Kiriathaim]] (south). That these limits were not fixed, however, is plain from the lists of cities given in {{bibleverse||Isaiah|15–16|HE}} and [[Jeremiah]] {{Bibleverse||Jeremiah|48|1000|48}}, where [[Heshbon]], [[Elealeh]], and [[Jazer]] are mentioned to the north of Beth-jeshimoth; [[Madaba]], [[Beth-gamul]], and [[Mephaath]] to the east of [[Baalmeon]]; and [[Dibon]], [[Aroer]], [[Bezer]], [[Jahaz]], and [[Kirhareseth]] to the south of Kiriathaim. The principal rivers of Moab mentioned in the [[Bible]] are the [[Arnon (western Jordan)|Arnon]], the [[Dibon]] or Dimon,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=lcckAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA68 p. 68]</ref> and the [[Nimrim]]. In the north are a number of long, deep [[ravine]]s, and [[Mount Nebo (Jordan)|Mount Nebo]], famous as the scene of the death of [[Moses]] ([[Deuteronomy]] {{Bibleverse|Deuteronomy|34:1–8|HE|34:1–8}}).

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: the enclosed corner or canton south of the Arnon, referred to in the Bible as "field of Moab" ([[Book of Ruth|Ruth]] {{Bibleverse||Ruth|1:1,2,6|1000|1:1,2,6}}). The more open [[rolling hills (geology)|rolling country]] north of the Arnon, opposite [[Tell es-Sultan|Jericho]] and up to the hills of [[Gilead#Hebrew Bible|Gilead]], called the "land of Moab" ([[Deuteronomy]] {{Bibleverse||Deut|1:5; 32:49|1000|1:5; 32:49}}) and the district below [[sea level]] in the tropical depths of the [[Jordan valley]] ([[Book of Numbers|Numbers]] {{Bibleverse||Num|22:1|1000|22:1}}).