Moabites

MOABITES, a People descended from Moab, Son of Lot. Their Habitation was beyond Jordan, and the Dead-Sea, on each Side the River Arnon. Their Capital City was situated upon this River, and was called Ar, or Areopolis, or Ariel of Moab, or Rabbah-Moab, that is the Capital of Moab, or Kir-haresh, that is, a City with Brick-Walls. This Countrey was at first possessed Deut. ii. 11, 12.by a Race of Giants called Emims. The Moabites made a Conquest of them, and afterwards the Amorites took it in Part from Judg. xi. 13. Deut. ii. 9.the Moabites. Moses conquered that Part that belonged to the Amorites, and gave it to the Tribe of Reuben. The Moabites were spared by Moses, for God had forbidden him to molest them. But there always was a great Antipathy between the Moabites and Israelites, which gave Occasion to great Wars between them. Balaam the Wizard seduced the Hebrews to Idolatry and Uncleanness, by Means of the Daughters of Numb. xxv. 1, 2.Moab; and Balak King of this People did what he could to prevail with Balaam to curse the People of the Lord. God ordained, Numb. xxii. 2, &c.that the Moabites should not enter into the Congregation of his People, even to the tenth Generation¹, because they had the Inhumanity to refuse the Israelites a Passage through their Countrey, nor would supply them with Bread and Water in their extreme Necessity.

Eglon King of the Moabites, was one of the first that oppressed Israel after the Death of Joshua. Ebud killed Eglon, and the Israelites drove the Moabites out of their Countrey². Hanun King of the Ammonites having insulted the Persons of David’s Ambassadors, this Prince made War against him, and subdued Moab and Ammon to his Obedience³, under which they continued till the Separation of the ten Tribes. Then the Ammonites and Moabites submitted themselves to the Kings of Israel, and continued in Subjection to them to the Death of Ahab⁴.

2 Kings iii. 4, 5. 2 Kings iii. 16, &c.Presently after the Death of Ahab, the Moabites, who till then had been subject to the Kings of Israel, began to revolt, and to shake off their Yoke. Mesha King of Moab, would no longer pay the Tribute of an hundred Thousand Lambs, and as many Rams, which till then he had been accustomed to pay, either yearly, or at the Beginning of every Reign, which of these two is not clearly expressed in Scripture. The Reign of Abaziah afterwards was so short, that he had not Time enough to make War with them; but Jehoram, Son of Ahab, and Brother to Abaziah, having ascended the Throne, began to think of reducing them to Obedience. He made a Review of the Army of Israel in the Plain near to Samaria, and then sent to Jehoshaphat King of Judah, informing him that the King of Moab had revolted against him, and desired him to come to his Assistance in Order to reduce them. Jehoshaphat returned for Answer, that he would join him, and that himself and all his Forces should be at his Devotion. They joined their Armies thereupon, and agreed to march against the Moabites, by the Way of the Desart of Idumæa or Edom. The King of this Countrey joined them also, as being a Vassal of Jehoshaphat’s, and their Army marched for seven Days together, through Desarts, where they were without Water, and in great Danger of seeing both Man and Beast perish with Thirst. Then the King of Israel cried out to the Lord, Hast thou brought hither three Kings, to deliver them into the Hands of Moab? Jehoshaphat asked if there were no Prophet of the Lord there? One of the Servants of the King of Israel acquainted him, that Elisha the Son of Shaphat was there, who had served the Prophet Elijah. The three Kings presently ordered him to be inquired for. The Prophet made some Difficulty to appear before Jehoram, but in Conside-ration of King Jehoshaphat he returned this Answer. Thus saith the Lord, dig in the Vale, and make many Ditches therein; there shall be neither Rain, nor Wind, and yet you shall see the Vale filled with Water, and you shall drink, and your Servants, and your Cattle. But this is nothing in Comparison of what the Lord will do for you; for he will deliver the Moabites into your Hands, you shall destroy all their strong Cities, and shall ravage all their Countries. The Event was answerable to the Prediction of the Prophet, for on the Morrow the Vale was full of Water; and the Moabites having Intelligence that the Kings of Israel, of Judah, and of Edom, were come out to fight against them, they took the Field, and gave them the Meeting upon their Frontiers. And when they arose next Morning at Break of Day, the Sun beginning to shine upon the Waters, they appeared to them as tinged with Blood; which made them conclude among themselves, that it was Blood shed by the Sword, and that the Kings had quarrelled with one another, and were there slain. They therefore marched on boldly, expecting to plunder, and in Hopes of finding a good Booty; but they were received by the Israelites with great Vigour, were defeated, and put to Flight, and their Countrey was at the Mercy of the Enemy. Jehoram besieged their Capital; but when he saw that the King of Moab, in a Fit of Despair, was going to sacrifice his own Son upon the Walls; the three Kings presently raised the Siege and withdrew.

Observations on the Victory obtained by the Israelites over the revolted Moabites, 2 Kings iii.☞ We see every where in Scripture, that the Lord, the God of Armies, has always been favourable to Men of Virtue and Resolution. He holds Victory in his own Hands, which he always gives to that Side that is most faithful and most agreeable to him. Elisha declares himself very expresly on this Matter, in the Presence of the three Kings who went to him, in Order to consult him in their Extremity. He says to Jehoram, Were 2 Kings iii. 14.it not that I regard the Presence of Jehoshaphat the King of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee. But in Consideration of this Prince, who did that which 1 Kings xxii. 43.was right in the Eyes of the Lord, he promises them the Victory, and confirms it to them by a Miracle. He tells them, Ye shall Ibid. 17.not see Wind, neither shall ye see Rain; yet that Valley shall be filled with Water, that ye may drink, both ye and your Cattle and your Beasts. The Effects of this Prophecy they saw the next Morning. The Prophet, not to keep them in Uncertainty, proceeds to speak yet more clearly to them, and assures them; This is but a light Thing in the Sight of the Lord, he will deliver the Moabites also into your Hand.

Although Elisha had thus plainly declared to these three Kings, that they should triumph over their Enemies, yet they did not omit taking all the Precautions necessary, that they might succeed in their Enterprize; and they remained quietly in their Camp upon their Guard. The Stratagem they made Use of against their Enemy was common among the Greeks and Romans, and there are more than an hundred Examples of it in their History; but what is very surprising is, that their Enemies would suffer themselves to be so often caught by it. Such Pieces of Policy were put in Practice by small Armies, against those that overpowered them in Number. They have almost always succeeded, as also general Sallies made by Places besieged, so common in ancient History, and so rarely practised by the Moderns, who are not aware of the End it answers, and its Advantages in Cases of great Extremity.

2 Kings iii. 21.When the Moabites, as the sacred Author tells us, heard that the Kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put on Armour, and upwards, and stood in the Border. They gathered together not only all their able Soldiers, but also their old Men and Veterans, and such as might expect to be excused by the Privilege of their Offices. These all came to guard their Frontiers.

And they rose up early in the Morning and the Sun shone upon the Water, and the Moabites saw the Water on each Side as red as Blood. The Scripture does not tell us this Circumstance as a Prodigy, nor have we any Need to take it in this Sense; this kind of Things may be put in the Number of those that happen naturally every Day. The Waters did not appear red, as the learned Commentator observes, because of the Soil over which they had passed, or because of the Sand, and the Bottom of the Valley, which possibly might be reddish; for the Moabites would have been accustomed to this, and consequently not surprized at it: But, as he says very well afterwards, because the Sun, which at its rising or setting often appears red, communicates this Colour to the Clouds, and by Reflexion to the Waters as in a Looking-glass. Thus it is that the Sea appears sometimes as it were all on Fire, or of the Colour of Blood, when this happens. Besides, the Valley being dry the Evening before, and no Rain having fallen that Night, they easily fell into this Mistake. This is Blood, say they, the Kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another; now therefore, Moab, to the Spoil. They marched on therefore towards the Israelites, as to a sure Victory, without any Distrust of the Event, and were so much the less upon their Guard, as they saw no Body to appear. For it is very likely that the Jews concealed themselves in their Camp, or else lay down upon their Bellies that they might not be perceived, and thereby make the Moabites less circumspect, who had no Thoughts but of a sure Booty. Then they might attack them at unawares, at a Time that they would least expect it. For thus it always happens to an Army that is too confident of its own Strength; and which is under the Command of imprudent Generals, who march on with a Presumption that no Body dares oppose them. So when they came to the Camp of Israel, says the Scripture, the Ibid, 24.Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them.

The Custom of the Jews was, to retrench themselves in their Camp; but it does not appear they did so on this Occasion. I am apt to think they went out to Battle at the Head of their Camp, stooping upon their Bellies, as I said before, that they might not be perceived by their Enemies. This was not difficult for them to do, since there was no Cavalry in either Army. As these two Nations practised the same Sort of Tacticks, I range the Jews in several large Bodies, and consequently the Moabites in the same Manner. As to the Slingers, tho’ there is no Mention of them here, and though they are only taken Notice of at the Ibid. 25.Siege of the capital City of the Moabites, it is plain there were some in the Army; they were often placed behind the Lines, where I suppose them ranged. Some Interpreters will have it, that in the Siege that followed this Victory, the Slingers were those that played the Catapultæ; but they were mistaken, as D. Calmet has well observed. But what is remarkable is, that the Israelites battered down a Part of the Walls of the City, by Stones that were cast at them by the Help of Machines. A Thousand Examples of this may be seen in profane Historians, especially in Cæsar, and in the Commentary upon Polybius by the Chevalier de Follard, Tom. II. where he treats of the Machines of War of the Ancients.

Am. i. 13, &c.It is not easy to perceive what were the Circumstances of the Moabites from that Time; but Isaiah, at the Beginning of the Reign of King Hezekiah, threatens them with a Calamity, which was to happen three Years after his Prediction⁵, and which probably has a Relation to the War that Shalmaneser King of Assyria made with the ten Tribes, and the other People beyond Jordan.

Amos also foretold great Miseries that were to come upon them, which probably are those that they suffered under Uzziah 2 Chron. xxvi. 7, 8. xxvii. 5.and Jotham, Kings of Judah, or those that Shalmaneser brought upon them; or Jerem. ix. 26. xii. 14, 15. xxv. 11, 12. xlviii. Jerem. xlviii. 47. xlix. 3, 6, 39. l. 16.lastly the War of Nebuchadnezzar, five Years after the Destruction of Jerusalem⁶: We believe this Prince carried them away Captive beyond the Euphrates, as the Prophets had threatened them; and that Cyrus sent them home again, as he did the rest of the Captives. After their Return from Captivity, we see that they multiplied, and fortified themselves, as the Jews did, and other neighbouring People; still in Subjection to the Kings of Persia, afterwards conquered by Alexander the Great, and in Obedience to the Kings of Syria and Egypt successively, and finally to the Romans. There is a Probability also, that in the latter Times of the Jewish Republick, they obeyed the Asmonean Kings, and afterwards Herod the Great.

The principal Deities of the Moabites were Chemosh and Baal-peor. These we have already spoken of under their respective Titles, and have endeavoured to shew, that Chemosh was the Sun, and that Baal-peor was the God Adonis. Also the Scripture speaks in some Places of Nebo, of Baal-meon, and of Baal-dibon, as of Gods of the Moabites. But it is very likely that these are rather Names of Places where Chemosh and Peor were worshipped, and that Baal-dibon, Baal-meon, and Nebo, are no other than Chemosh adored at Dibon, Meon, and upon Mount Nebo.

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