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Abarim

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Jordan

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Abarim (Hebrew: הָעֲבָרִים, Ha-Avarim) is a mountain range across Jordan, to the east and south-east of the Dead Sea, extending from Mount Nebo — its highest point — in the north, perhaps to the Arabian desert in the south.

Map of Abarim, Jordan

According to Cheyne and Black, its Hebrew meaning is "'Those-on-the-other-side'—i.e., of the Jordan." The Vulgate (Deuteronomy 32:49) gives its etymological meaning as passages. Its northern part was called Phasga (or Pisgah), and the highest peak of Pisgah was Mount Nebo (Numbers 23:14; 27:12; 21:20; 32:47; Deuteronomy 3:27; 34:1; 32:49).

These mountains are mentioned several times in the Bible:

  • Balaam blessed Israel the second time from the top of Mount Pisgah (Numbers 23:14)
  • From "the top of Pisgah" i.e. Mount Nebo, an area which belonged to Moab, Moses surveyed the Promised Land (Numbers 27:12 and Deuteronomy 3:27; 32:49), and there he died (34:1,5)
  • The Israelites had one of their encampments in the mountains of Abarim (Numbers 33:47,48) after crossing the Arnon
  • The prophet Jeremiah linked it with Bashan and Lebanon as locations from which the people cried in vain to God for rescue (Jeremiah 22:20)
  • Jeremiah hid the ark there (II Maccabees 2:4-5). (The book of 2 Maccabees is included in Bibles used by Roman Catholics, but generally not in Protestant or Jewish Bibles.)

    • References

    Abarim Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA