Location and Setting
- The plain is located directly opposite Jericho on the eastern side of the lower Jordan
Valley.
- The Plains of Moab is a flatland that extends some ten miles from north to south and
seven miles from east to west. It lies about one thousand feet below sea level.
- Mount Pisgah and Mount Nebo border the plain on the southeast.
- The hills of Moab surround the Plains of Moab on three sides and rise steeply to the
north, east, and south. These heights are deeply rutted with wadis.
Historical and Biblical Significance
- Although the area is called the Plains of Moab, just before the Exodus, Sihon, king of
the Amorites, controlled all the land north of the Arnon River. When Israel entered this
area, they were forced to battle Sihon and drive the Amorites out of the area (Num
21:21-22:1; Judg 11:18-23).
- It is estimated that about two million Israelite men, women, and children camped on the
Plains of Moab before entering the Land. In the census taken by Moses and Eleazar the
priest, 601,730 adult males were counted. If this figure is expanded to include women and
children, the total number would easily have reached two million Israelites (Num 22:1;
26:3,51,63; Josh 3:1).
- While camped at Shittim, a city at the foot of the hills of Moab and on the eastern edge
of the Plains of Moab, the Israelites were drawn into idol worship. When Israelite men
intermarried with Moabite and Midianite women, God brought a plague on them that killed
24,000 people. God ended the plague when Phinehas, the son of Eleazer, impaled the
Israelite, Zimri, and Cozbi, the Midianite woman with a spear (Numbers 25).
- The Lord commanded Moses to take vengeance against the Midianites. After defeating them,
the Israelite soldiers brought the spoils of war, including women and children captives,
back to their camp on the Plains of Moab. Furious because the officers had not followed
his instructions, he ordered that only virgin females be spared from death (Num 31:1-18).
- It was on the Plains of Moab that God spoke through Moses the message of the book of
Deuteronomy.
- It was from the Plains of Moab that Moses went up to Mount Pisgah and Mount Nebo where
the Lord showed him the Promised Land before he died (Deut 34:1). The people of Israel
mourned his death on the Plains of Moab for thirty days (Deut 34:8).
- Elijah was on the Plains of Moab when he was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. He and
Elisha had crossed to the eastern side of the Jordan River on dry ground at a point
opposite Jericho. It is easy to imagine the chariot of fire, horses of fire, and the
whirlwind sweeping across those flatlands, catching Elijah up to heaven (2 Kgs 2:8-12).
Bibliography
- Smith, William. The New Smith’s Bible Dictionary. Garden City: Doubleday
& Company, Inc., 1966.
- Thompson, J.A. "Moab, Moabites" The New Bible Dictionary. 2nd
ed. Ed. J.D. Douglas. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1982.
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