Who Were the Moabites? The Truth You Didn't Know

the moabites were a Semitic people who lived east of the Dead Sea in present day Jordan from The 14th Century to 582 before Christ the moabites were a Semitic people descended from Moab the incestuous son of lot and his eldest daughter lot was the nephew of Abraham the patriarch of the Israelites so the moabites and the Israelites were distantly related however this relationship was insufficient to avoid conflict between the two peoples the story of lot and his daughters is told in the Book of Genesis chapter 19 lot lived in the city of Sodom which was

very sinful in the eyes of God God decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah the two most wicked cities in the region with fire and brimstone however God had compassion for lot and sent two angels to take him and his family out of the city the Angels warned lot not to look back as he fled for if he did he would die lot escaped with his wife and two daughters but his wife disobeyed the Angel's command and looked back instantly she became a pillar of salt lot and his daughters came to a small town called Zoar

but lot was afraid to stay there and went to live in a cave in the mountains lot's daughters thought that there was no man on Earth to marry because they believed that all mankind had been destroyed so they decided to get their father drunk and sleep with him to have children to perpetuate their offspring the elder daughter had a son whom she named Moab meaning the Father the younger daughter had another son whom she called Ben Ami which means son of my people these were the fathers of the moabites and the ammonites respectively the moabites

and the ammonites settled in the Jordan region east of the Dead Sea in present day Jordan the moabites occupied the territory extending from the brook of zared to the brook of Arnon the ammonites occupied the territory extending from the Jabbok stream to the desert both peoples clashed with the amorites the Canaanites the and the Israelites for control of the land the moabites worshiped a god named Kos to whom they offered human sacrifices especially of children the ammonites worshiped A God Called milcom To whom they also offered human sacrifices these practices were abominable to God and

to the Israelites who worship the one true God Yahweh the moabites and the Israelites were distant relatives but also enemies when the Israelites left Egypt and wandered in the desert the moabites refused to let them pass through their territory and hired a prophet named balam to curse them however balam could not curse them but bless them at God's command the moabites then resorted to seducing the Israelites with their women and their God Kos which provoked God's anger and a plague among the Israelites Moses ordered the Israelites to kill the moabites and those who had worshiped

Kos this story is told in the Book of Numbers chapters 22 to2 the moabites along with the ammonites and midianites felt threatened by the presence of the Israelites approaching the promised land the king of Moab balak sent Messengers to balam a prophet known for his power to bless or curse balak offered him money and honors in exchange for cursing the Israelites balam insulted God who forbade him to curse the chosen people however balam was tempted by the reward and went to meet balak on the way his donkey saw an angel of God barring his way

and spoke to balam rebuking him for his greed balam repented and went on but only on the condition that he would say what God inspired him to say bik took balam to several places from where he could see the Israelites and asked him to curse them but every time balam opened his mouth nothing came out of it but blessings for the Israelites and curses for their enemies balak was enraged and dismissed balam who before leaving revealed to him the secret to defeat the Israelites to make them sin against their God the moabites followed balam's advice

and sent their wives to seduce the Israelites and invite them to participate in the sacrifices and feasts of Kos their God many Israelites fell into the Trap and turned away from Yahweh God became angry and sent a plague that killed 24,000 Israelites Moses commanded the judges of Israel to execute those who had joined Kos an Israelite named zimri dared to bring a moabit woman Cosby into his tent in front of Moses and the entire congregation fyaz Aaron's grandson took a spear and pierced the two adulterers thus stopping the plague God praised the Zeal of finaz

and promised him a covenant of peace peace and Perpetual priesthood the Israelites after this took revenge on the moabites and midianites and killed balam who had been the instigator of their sin the most famous King of the moabites was Mesa who reigned in the 9th century before Christ mesha confronted King Omri of Israel who had conquered part of his territory mesha allied with the and the ammonites and rebelled against Israel King Ahab of Israel son of om for formed a coalition with King Jehoshaphat of Judah and the king of Edom to attack the moabites the

three kings laid Siege to the city of Kier herth where Mesa took Refuge Mesa seeing that the situation was desperate offered his firstborn son as a sacrifice to Kosh on the city wall this caused Great Horror among the besiegers who lifted The Siege and withdrew this story is told in the book of 2 Kings 3 the kings of is Israel Judah and Edom joined together to punish the moabites who had rebelled against the tribute demanded by Israel the three kings took the desert road to surprise the moabites but they ran out of water for themselves

and their animals so they consulted the prophet Elisha who told them to dig ditches in the valley and God would fill them with water so it happened and the next day the valley was full of water the moabites who saw the reflection of the sun on the water thought it was blood and that the Kings had killed each other so they went out confidently to the enemy camp but were defeated and pursued by the Allies the moabites took refuge in their fortified City kirth and the Kings besieged it when Mesa saw that he could not

resist he took his son the heir to the throne and sacrificed him on the wall before the eyes of all this provoked great indignation among the besiegers who turned away from him and returned to their land land Mesa boasted of his victory and had a stone Steely erected with an inscription in the moabit language the Moab Ste is the oldest document that mentions King David and the god Yahweh on the stale mesha says that kamos gave him victory over omry and that he rebuilt the cities that omry had taken it also says that he killed

many Israelites and took their sacred vessels to Kos the Moab Steely was discovered in 1868 in ancient daan now Debon Jordan by a German missionary named fa Klein the Steely was broken by local Arabs who believed it had magical powers but most of the fragments were recovered and assembled by the French archaeologist Charles clont Gano among some little known facts about this tribe are the moabites were famous for their copper Minds which they exploited since the 13th century BC copper was very valuable in ancient times and the moabites used it to make make weapons tools

and art objects also they had a very cruel custom with their enemies when they captured a prisoner of war they would cut off his hands and feet and hang them from a tree as a trophy this can be seen on the Mesa sta where the moabit king says he did this with 7,000 men from the city of Neo the moabites had an ambiguous relationship with the ammonites their Kinsmen and neighbors sometimes they Allied against the Israelites and some times they fought among themselves one of the bloodiest battles between moabites and ammonites was that of Zaron

where the moabites killed 10,000 ammonites and took their Capital rabba these groups had a legend about the origin of their name according to this Legend Moab was the son of a giant named Arnon who lived on the River of the same name one day Arnon fell in love with a human woman named Zohar and from their Union Moab was born Moab inherited his father's strength and his mother's Beauty and became the first king of the moabites and so the moabites continued their struggle against the Israelites during the 8th and 7eventh centuries before Christ the prophets

Isaiah Jeremiah and Ezekiel announced the destruction of Moab for their pride and idolatry despite their tenacity and Warrior Spirit the moabites could not resist the onslaught of foreign invasions the Assyrian Babylonian and Persian Empires conquered their territory weakening their power and reducing them to vassals the moabites were conquered by the Assyrians who deported them and subjected them to Tribute the Babylonians also invaded Moab and devastated it the Persians took control of the region and allowed some moabites to return however the moabites gradually lost their identity and mixed with other people some converted to Judaism such

as Ruth the great grandmother of King David others assimilated with the naans Arabs and Greeks the moabites disappeared as a people and their name remained only in historical memory