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Rabbah - location profile

Location and Setting

• Rabbah was located at the site of the present city of Amman, Jordan, twenty-two miles east of the Jordan River and eighteen miles northeast of Medeba.
• Rabbah was also known as Rabbath-Ammon, which means "main town of Ammon."
• Situated on a high plateau, Rabbah was on the edge of the desert, at the source of the Jabbok River.
• Built on the site of an excellent spring, Rabbah came to be known as "the City of Waters" (2 Sam 12:27).
• Rabbah has always been an important trading center on the Transjordanian (King’s) Highway, the main commercial route between Damascus and Arabia.
• Rabbah’s strategic location has made it a frequent victim of attack.

Historical and Biblical Significance

• Ammonites inhabited the region around Rabbah. As the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, they were warned not to harass the Ammonites or to take any of their land because they were descendants of Lot (Gen 19:38; Deut 2:19, 37).
• King Og was reported to have had an enormous iron bedstead at Rabbah measuring six feet by thirteen feet. The term "bedstead" may also be translated "sarcophagus." In either case, the value would have been great because, at the beginning of the Iron Age, iron was rare and expensive (Deut 3:11).
• King David sent Joab to besiege the city of Rabbah. While his army was there, David sinned with Bathsheba. David ordered that Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, be put in the front line at a subsequent battle at Rabbah, ensuring his death. Eventually, Joab conquered Rabbah. Later, David went to Rabbah and completed the capture of the city, taking its spoils (2 Sam 11:1-12:31; 1 Chr 20:1-3).
• Several of the prophets proclaimed the downfall of Rabbah. Jeremiah foretold the destruction and restoration of the city by the Lord (Jer 49:2, 3, 6). Ezekiel also pronounced the destruction of Rabbah for rejoicing at Israel’s exile (Ezek 21:20; 25:5). Amos spoke of the judgment of Rabbah for the Ammonite’s brutal attack on Gilead (Amos 1:13-15).
• Rabbah was rebuilt and renamed Philadelphia under the rule of Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-246 B.C.), who introduced Hellenizing (Greek) influences to the city. Philadelphia was the southernmost city of the Decapolis.
• Later, in 63 B.C., Pompey conquered the city, making it part of the Roman Empire.

Bibliography

1. Aharoni, Yohanan. The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1962.
2. DeVries, LaMoine F. Cities of the Biblical World. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997.
3. Kelso, J.L. "Rabbah" The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Ed. Merrill C. Tenney. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.
4. Lockyer, Sr., Herbert, ed. Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986.
5. Owen, G. Fredrick. The Holy Land. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1977.
6. Page II, Charles R. and Carl A. Volz. The Land and the Book: An Introduction to the World of the Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993.
7. Thompson, J.A. and A.R. Millard. "Rabbah" The New Bible Dictionary. 2^nd ed. Ed. J.D. Douglas. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1982.