Bible Dictionary
MOABITES
MOABITES
(a) The descendants of Moab son of Lot. They were very closely related to the Ammonites (Gen. 19:37, 38).
Already very numerous by the time of the Israelites’ crossing of the Red Sea (Ex. 15:15), the Moabites occupied the region that extended from the plain of Heshbon to the wadi Seil el-Kerãhi, at the southern end of the Dead Sea, which separated Moab from Edom.
Associated with the Ammonites, they absorbed and destroyed the survivors of the strong race that had occupied the country east of the Jordan before them (Deut. 2:10, 11, 19-21; cf. Gen. 14:5).
Shortly before the arrival of the Israelites, Sihon, king of the Amorites, took from Moab the pasture lands north of the Arnon, which continued to be called “fields of Moab”, although the Moabites were limited for a time south of the Arnon. (Num. 21:13-15, 26-30).
The latter wanted to trade with the Israelites (Deut. 2:28, 29), but they refused them the right of passage through their land (Judg. 11:17; cf. Deut. 23:4). Under orders from Jehovah, Moses forbade the Israelites from attacking Moab, undoubtedly because of his degree of kinship (Deut. 2:9; cf. V. 19).
Uneasy at the sight of the Israelite camps, the king of Moab asked Balaam to curse the newcomers (Num. 22-24; Josh. 24:9).
Jehovah commanded Israel to exclude the Moabites and the Ammonites from their assembly to the tenth generation; God’s people were not to associate with them (Deut. 23:3-6; Neh. 13:1). The last camp before crossing the Jordan was established at Shittim, on the plains that had belonged to Moab (Num. 22:1; Josh. 3:1).
There Ammonite and Moabite women seduced the Israelites into impurity and idolatry (Num. 25; Hos. 9:10). At the beginning of the time of the Judges, Eglon, king of Moab, invaded Canaan, making Jericho his capital and oppressing the Israelites on the neighboring plateau for 18 years, later being killed by Ehud (Judges 3:12-30) .
Elimelech emigrated to the country of Moab; Orpah and Ruth, his daughters-in-law, were Moabites. Ruth married Boaz and thus became the great-grandmother of King David (Rt. 1:22; 4:3, 5, 10, 13-17; Mt. 1:516). Saul fought against the Moabites (1 Sam. 14:47).
David, outlawed, placed his father and mother under the protection of the king of Moab (1 Sam. 22:3, 4). After his accession to the throne, David defeated the Moabites, subdued them under tribute, and put to death a large number of them (2 Sam. 8:2, 12; 1 Chron. 18:2, 11).
Subjected to Omri and his son, the Moabites revolted after Ahab’s death. Neither Ahaziah, ill due to an accidental fall, nor Joram could defeat the Moabites (2 Kings 1:1; 3:4-27; cf. article MESA [Stele]).
Jehoshaphat was then king of Judah. The Moabites allied themselves with the Ammonites, Edomites and other peoples, in order to invade the territory of Judah; However, the allies killed each other, and Judah was freed from the danger that loomed over it (2 Chron. 20:1-30; cf. Ps. 60:8; 83:7; 108:10).
In the year of Elisha’s death, hordes of Moabites invaded the kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 13:20); tributaries of Tiglath-pileser and Sennacherib, kings of Assyria, entered Judah under the reign of Jehoiakim (2 Kings 24:2).
Then numerous towns north of Arnon fell into the power of Moab (cf. Is. 15). The prophets frequently and harshly denounced Moab, a type of the enemies of the kingdom of God (Is. 15; 16; 25:10; Jer. 9:26; 25:21; 27:3; 48; Ez. 25:8 -11; Am. 2:1, 2; Zeph. 2:8-11).
Some Jews abandoned Jerusalem when Nebuchadnezzar approached, taking refuge in the fields of Moab, but returned to Judah when Gedaliah was appointed governor (Jer. 40:11ff.).
Nebuchadnezzar subdued the Moabites (Ant. 10:9, 7). They ceased to play an important role as a nation, but their race did not become extinct (Est. 9:1; Neh. 13:1, 23; Ant. 1:11, 5).
Alexander Jannaeus subjected them to tribute (Ant. 13:13, 5) (b) The country occupied by the Moabites. The borders of Moab were the Dead Sea to the west. The Seil of Kerãhi was their southern limit, separating them from the territory of Edom. In its upper part this wadi is called el-Hesã.
The correctness of these borders is confirmed by the mention of the Moabite cities. To the east was the
no man’s land of the desert (Num. 21:11) and the Amorites and Israelites recognized the Arnon as the northern border of Moab (Num. 21:13; Deut. 2:36; 3:12; Josh. 12:1; Jud. 11:18).
But the Moabites had previously occupied a vast territory north of Arnon (Num. 21:26) which they frequently occupied and always claimed as their own (Is. 15; cf. also MESA [Stele of], lines 8-30). Most of Moab is made up of a rugged plateau at about 975 m. above the level of the Mediterranean; pasture land.
The western edge plummets towards the Dead Sea. Deep valleys cut this cliff. The fortress of Machaerus, where, according to Josephus, John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded (see however MACHAERON), was located in Moab, east of the Dead Sea and north of Arnon.
Numerous sources give a relative fertility to this coastal part of the Dead Sea. The expression “fields of Moab” means “territory of Moab” (Gen. 36:35; Num. 21:20).
In front of the Jordan were plains that had also belonged to Moab (Num. 22:1; 33:48, 49). These plains extended east of the river, opposite Jericho, and along the eastern bank of the Dead Sea.
BETHEL
is the name of a Canaanite city in the ancient region of Samaria, located in the center of the land of Canaan, northwest of Ai on the road to Shechem, 30 kilometers south of Shiloh and about 16 kilometers north of Jerusalem.
Bethel is the second most mentioned city in the Bible. Some identify it with the Palestinian village of Beitin and others with the Israeli settlement of Beit El.
Bethel was the place where Abraham built his altar when he first arrived in Canaan (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3). And at Bethel Jacob saw a vision of a ladder whose top touched heaven and the angels ascended and descended (Genesis 28:10-19).
For this reason Jacob was afraid, and said, “How terrible is this place! It is nothing other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven »and he called Bethel the place that was known as «Light» (Genesis 35-15).
Bethel was also a sanctuary in the days of the prophet Samuel, who judged the people there (1 Samuel 7:16; 1 Samuel 10:3). And it was the place where Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, was buried.
Bethel was the birthplace of Hiel, who sought to rebuild the city of Jericho (1 Kings 16:34).
When Bethel did not yet belong to the people of Israel, Joshua had to battle against the king of Bethel and other kings and defeated them (Joshua 12-16).
When the people of Israel had taken possession of the promised land, in the division by tribes it was assigned to the Tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18-22), but in later times it belonged to the Tribe of Judah (2 Chronicles 13:19).
It was one of the places where the Ark of the Covenant remained, a symbol of the presence of God.
In Bethel the prophet Samuel judged the people.
Then the prophet Elisha went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some boys came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him: “Go up, bald man; Come up, bald! When he looked back and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the forest and tore to pieces forty-two boys” (2 Kings 2:23).
After the division of the kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam I, king of Israel, had a golden calf raised at Bethel (1 Kings 21:29) which was destroyed by Josiah, king of Judah, many years later (2 Kings 23:15). .
Bethel was also a place where some of the Babylonian exiles who returned to Israel in 537 BC gathered. (Ezra 2:28).
The prophet Hosea, a century before Jeremiah, refers to Bethel by another name: “Bet-Aven” (Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 10:5-8), which means ‘House of Iniquity’, ‘House of Nothingness’, ‘House of Vanity’, ‘House of Nullity’, that is, of idols.
In Amos 7: 12-13 the priest Amaziah tells the prophet Amos that he flee to Judah and no longer prophesy in Bethel because it is the king’s sanctuary, and the head of the kingdom.
The prophet Jeremiah states that “the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel” (Jeremiah 48:13), because of their idolatry and, specifically, the worship of the golden calf.
PUTEOLI
(lat.: “small fountains”).
Two days after arriving in Rhegium, the ship carrying Paul arrived at Puteoli, which was then an important maritime city.
The apostle found Christians there, and enjoyed their hospitality (Acts 28:13).
It was located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples, near the site of present-day Pouzzoles.
The entire surrounding region is volcanic, and the Solfatare crater rises behind the city.
PUT
Name of a nation related to the Egyptians and neighbors of their country (Gen. 10:6).
Put is mentioned with Egypt and other African countries, especially Libya (Nah. 3:9) and Lud (Ez. 27:10; Is. 66:19 in the LXX. Put appears between Cush and Lud in Jer. 46:9; Ez. 30:5).
In the LXX he is translated as Libyans in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Josephus also identifies it with Libya (Ant. 1:6, 2), but in Nah. 3.9 is distinguished from the Libyans.
Current opinion is divided between Somalia, Eastern Arabia and Southern Arabia (Perfume Coast).
PURPLE
A coloring substance that is extracted from various species of mollusks. The ancient Tyrians used two types of them: the “Murex trunculus”, from which the bluish purple was extracted, and the “Murex brandaris”, which gave the red.
The ink of its coloring matter varies in color depending on the region in which it is fished.
Piles of murex shells, artificially opened, have been discovered in Minet el-Beida, port of ancient Ugarit (Ras Shamra), which gives evidence of the great antiquity of the use of this purple dye (see UGARIT).
Due to its high price, only the rich and magistrates wore purple (Est. 8:15, cf. the exaltation of Mordecai, v. 2, Pr. 31:22; Dan. 5:7; 1 Mac. 10 :20, 62, 64; 2 Mac. 4:38; cf. v 31; Luke 16:19; Rev. 17:4).
The rulers adorned themselves in purple, even those of Midian (Judg. 8:26). Jesus was mocked with a purple robe (Mark 15:17).
Great use had been made of purple-dyed fabrics for the Tabernacle (Ex. 25:4; 26:1, 31, 36) and for the high priest’s vestments (Ex. 28:5, 6, 15, 33; 39: 29). The Jews gave symbolic value to purple (Wars 5:5, 4).
PURIM
(Heb., plural of “luck”).
Haman cast lots to determine a day of good omen for the destruction of the Jews.
As Haman’s designs were undone, the liberation of the Jews was marked by an annual festival (Est. 3:7; 9:24-32) on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar.
This festival is not mentioned by name in the NT, although there are exegetes who assume that it is the one referred to in Jn. 5:1.
This festival continues to be celebrated within Judaism: the book of Esther is read, and curses are pronounced on Haman and his wife, blessings are pronounced on Mordecai and the eunuch Harbonah (Est. 1:10; 7: 9).
PURIFICATION, PURITY
In the Mosaic Law four ways to purify oneself from contamination were indicated:
(a) Purification of contamination contracted by touching a dead person (Num. 19; cf. Num. 5:2, 3),
(b) Purification from impurity due to bodily emissions (Lev. 15; cf. Num. 5:2, 3).
(c) Purification of the woman in labor (Lev. 12:1-8; Luke 2:21-24).
(d) Purification of the leper (Lev. 14).
To this, the scribes and Pharisees added many other purifications, such as washing hands before eating, washing vessels and dishes, showing great zeal in these things, while inside they were full of extortion and iniquity (Mark 7: 2-8).
In Christianity the necessary purification extends:
to the heart (Acts 15:9; James 4:8),
to the soul (1 Pet. 1:22), and
to the conscience through the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:14).
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BETHEL
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