Aroer

Biblical Locations

The Old Testament mentions several places called Aroer, so readers must determine which one each passage intends.

• Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley: This is the most frequently mentioned site. It is presented as the southern limit of the land ruled by Sihon, king of the Amorites (Deuteronomy 2:36; Joshua 12:2), and after Israel took the territory, it became part of the inheritance of the tribes east of the Jordan. Numbers 32:34 records that the children of Gad built this town, while Joshua 13:16 lists it as a boundary of the tribe of Reuben. Jephthah told the king of Ammon that Israel had dwelt in Heshbon and Aroer for three hundred years (Judges 11:26). Joab began David's census here (2 Samuel 24:5). Later, Hazael king of Syria struck Israel as far as this region (2 Kings 10:33). In the oracle of judgment against Moab, Jeremiah 48:19 calls out, "O inhabitant of Aroer."
• Aroer before Rabbah: This town appears in Joshua 13:25 as a boundary of the tribe of Gad and seems to have been located near Rabbah, the capital of Ammon. Some interpreters identify the Aroer of Judges 11:33, which describes the extent of Jephthah's campaign against Ammon, with this site.
• Aroer in the south of Judah: This was one of the towns of Judah to which David sent spoil recovered from the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30:28). Some hold that "Hothan the Aroerite," named in the list of David's mighty men (1 Chronicles 11:44), came from this town. Many scholars identify it with a ruin southeast of Beersheba.

"The cities of Aroer" in Isaiah 17:2 appear within an oracle concerning Damascus. Scholars disagree about which location is meant.

Background

The Arnon Valley is a deep gorge that flows into the Dead Sea from the east. Because it long served as a natural boundary between the lands of Israel and Moab, Aroer on its northern edge was a border town contested by the two peoples. An extrabiblical source, the inscription of King Mesha of Moab (the Mesha Stele), is reported to state that Mesha built Aroer and made a road by the Arnon. The identification of the site with Khirbet 'Ara'ir in modern Jordan is widely accepted.

The Hebrew name is sometimes explained as related to words meaning "juniper" or "bare place," but this is uncertain.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Aroer on the Arnon functions above all as a place name marking a territorial boundary. In the Pentateuch and Joshua, it designates the southern limit of the inheritance received by the tribes east of the Jordan. In Kings and the Prophets, the name traces how this land passed to Syria and Moab and later became an object of judgment. Aroer does not appear in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Issues

Because several places share the same name, interpreters disagree over which Aroer is meant in certain passages, notably Judges 11:33, Isaiah 17:2, and 2 Samuel 24:5. Explanations also differ as to why Numbers names Gad as the tribe that built the town, whereas Joshua assigns it to Reuben. Some suggest that the children of Gad rebuilt the town while it belonged to Reuben in the boundary allotment; others propose that the border between the two tribes shifted over time. Archaeological identifications of the sites also vary among researchers.