Plains of Moab

Biblical Text and Narrative

After the Exodus, Israel passed through the wilderness and made its final encampment here just before entering Canaan. Numbers 22:1 records the site: "the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho." The following events took place here:

• Balak, king of Moab, summoned Balaam to curse Israel, but Balaam blessed Israel instead (Numbers 22–24).
• While Israel abode in Shittim, the people committed whoredom with the daughters of Moab and worshiped Baal-peor, and a plague fell upon them. Phinehas intervened, and the plague was stayed (Numbers 25).
• A new census was taken of the generation that had grown up in the wilderness (Numbers 26:3, 63).
• Israel received ordinances concerning the division of the land, the cities in which the Levites were to dwell, and the cities of refuge. The Book of Numbers closes by stating that these ordinances were given "in the plains of Moab" (Numbers 36:13).
• From the plains of Moab, Moses went up to Mount Nebo and viewed Canaan, and the people wept for him in the plains of Moab thirty days (Deuteronomy 34:1, 8).

Background

The Hebrew word rendered "plains," arboth, is the plural of arabah, a term for the Jordan Valley. The plains of Moab lie northeast of the Dead Sea in the Jordan Valley, below sea level. Numbers 33:49 records that Israel's camp stretched from Beth-jesimoth to Abel-shittim.

This land originally belonged to Moab, but Sihon, king of the Amorites, had taken it (Numbers 21:26), and Israel encamped here after defeating Sihon. The name "plains of Moab" is therefore understood to reflect the land's former owner. The Moab to which Naomi's family moved was the Moabite heartland on the plateau east of the Dead Sea, a different place from these plains. The area lies within present-day Jordan, though scholars differ on the exact locations of individual sites.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The plains of Moab mark the end of the forty years in the wilderness and the threshold of the Promised Land. Here the new generation heard the law again. Deuteronomy 29:1 describes the covenant made at this time as one made in the land of Moab, "beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb." Here, too, leadership passed from Moses to Joshua. The people then departed from Shittim and crossed the Jordan River (Joshua 3:1).

The New Testament treats the events that took place here as a warning. Revelation 2:14 speaks of Balaam, "who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel." First Corinthians 10:8 is also commonly understood to refer to the events of Numbers 25.

Interpretation and Issues

• The portrayal of Balaam: Numbers 22–24 portrays Balaam as one who blessed Israel, whereas Numbers 31:16 states that the Baal-peor incident arose from Balaam's counsel. Interpreters differ on how to reconcile these two portrayals.
• The composition of Deuteronomy: Traditionally, Moses is held to have proclaimed and written Deuteronomy in Moab. Critical scholarship regards the book as the product of later editing. There is also a Jewish tradition that Joshua added the passage describing Moses' death.
• The place of Moses' death: The text records that Moses died "in the land of Moab" and was buried in a valley over against Beth-peor (Deuteronomy 34:5–6). It does not say that he died within the camp on the plains of Moab.