Aroer

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Biblical town in present-day Jordan

title: "Aroer" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["moab", "torah-cities"] description: "Biblical town in present-day Jordan" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aroer" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Biblical town in present-day Jordan ::

Aroer () is the name of two biblical cities in the Transjordan, in what is today the Kingdom of Jordan.

One is Areor on the Arnon, which is located on the north bank of the River Arnon to the east of the Dead Sea, in present-day Jordan. The town was an ancient Moabite settlement, and is mentioned in the Bible. Aroer is identified with the modern village of 'Ara'ir in Jordan.

The second Aroer is an Ammonite town which, according to the Book of Joshua, was located on the border between the Israelite Tribe of Gad and the kingdom of Ammon. However, its precise location has been lost to history.

Aroer on the Arnon

Location

Henry Baker Tristram suggested that "Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon" () is the place of modern 'Ara'ir on the north bank of the Wadi Mujib ravine, the biblical Arnon stream, about 11 mi from the mouth of the river. The city was still standing in the time of Eusebius. This place was usually described by its situation, in order to distinguish it from other localities of the same name.

Biblical mentions

It appears first as having been captured from Moab by the Amorite king Sihon. After the Israelite attack on the Amorites, it was assigned as part of the territory of the tribe of Reuben, whose southern frontier it marked. This is the city mentioned in , with the southern towns, as having been built by the Tribe of Gad before the Tribal allotments of Israel. When Hazael of Aram Damascus took the Transjordan territory from the Kingdom of Israel, Aroer is given as its southern limit. It is clear, from , that the Moabites ultimately recovered it from Israel.

In , an Adadah is mentioned. According to Cheyne and Black, arguing partially on the basis of a Septuagint reading of Arouel, this Adadah may in fact be the result of a scribal error, with the text originally reading Ararah, meaning Aroer.

According to a prophecy in the Book of Isaiah, "the cities of Aroer" will become forsaken; however, the Septuagint relates this verse to Damascus in Syria, translating as "deserted for ever" (see Isaiah 17:2).

Extra-biblical mention

In the Mesha inscription, line 26, it is mentioned as having been built by the Moabites.

References and sources

;References ;Sources

References

  1. Lemche, Niels Peter. (2004). "Historical dictionary of ancient Israel". Scarecrow Press.
  2. Homès-Fredericq, Denyse. (2000-01-01). "Excavating the First Pillar House at Lehun (Jordan)". The Archaeology of Jordan and Beyond.
  3. Tristram, H. B. (Henry Baker). (1873). "The land of Moab; travels and discoveries on the east side of the Dead sea and the Jordan". New York : Harper and brothers.
  4. {{bibleverse. Deuteronomy. 3:12, {{bibleverse-nb. Deuteronomy. 4:48; {{bibleverse. Joshua. 12:2, {{bibleverse-nb. Joshua. 13:9; {{bibleverse. Judges. 11:26; {{bibleverse. 2. Samuel. 24:5
  5. Compare {{bibleverse. Numbers. 21:26. KJV.
  6. {{bibleverse. 2 Kings. 10:33. KJV)
  7. Cheyne and Black (1899), ''Encyclopaedia Biblica,'' entry for "Adadah." [https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabib01cheyuoft]
  8. {{bibleverse. Isaiah. 17:2. KJV
  9. [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/benson/isaiah/17.htm Benson Commentary] on Isaiah 17, accessed 31 March 2018

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