Nebo

that speaks or prophesies

Nebo

(prophet), Mount, the mountain from which Moses took his first and last view of the promised land. (32:41; 34:1) It is described as in the land of Moab, facing Jericho; the head or summit of a mountain called Pisgah, which again seems to have formed a portion of the general range of Abarim. (Notwithstanding the minuteness of this description, it is only recently that any one has succeeded in pointing out any spot which answers to Nebo. Tristram identifies it with a peak (Jebel Nebbah) of the Abarim or Moab mountains, about three miles southwest of Heshban (Heshbon) and about a mile and a half due west of Baal-meon. "It overlooks the mouth of the Jordan, over against Jericho," (34:1) and the gentle slopes of its sides may well answer to the "field of Zophim." (Numbers 23:14) Jebel Nebbah is 2683 feet high. It is not an isolated peak but one of a succession of bare turf-clad eminences, so linked together that the depressions between them were mere hollows rather than valleys. It commands a wide prospect. Prof. Paine, of the American Exploration Society, contends that Jebel Nebbah, the highest point of the range, is Mount Nebo, that Jebel Siaghah, the extreme headland of the hill, is Mount Pisgah, and that "the mountains of Abarim "are the cliffs west of these points, and descending toward the Dead Sea. Probably the whole mountain or range was called sometimes by the name of one peak and sometimes by that of another as is frequently the case with mountains now. --ED.)

Nebo

1. A town in the vicinity of Bethel and Ai, Ezra 2:29 Nehemiah 7:33.

2. A city of Reuben, Numbers 32:38, taken by the Moabites, who held it in the time of Jeremiah, Isaiah 15:2 Jeremiah 48:1.

3. A mountain of Moab, whence Moses had a view of the promised land, and where he died. It is a summit of the range Abarim, "over against Jericho." Seetzen, Burckhardy, etc., identify it with Mount Attarus, about ten miles north of the Arnon. Travelers do not observe any very prominent summit in the rage immediately opposite Jericho; but it has not yet fully explored, De 32:49 34:1-12.

4. An idol of the Babylonians, Isaiah 46:1. In the astrological mythology of the Babylonians, this idol probably represented the planet Mercury. It was also worshipped by the ancient Arabians. The extensive prevalence of this worship among the Chaldeans and Assyrians, is evident from the many compound proper names occurring in the Scriptures, of which this word forms part; as Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, Nebushasban, Jeremiah 39:9,13; and also in the classics, as Naboned, Nabonassar, Nabopolassar, etc.

NEBO (1)

ne'-bo (nebho; Assyrian Nabu): The Babylonian god of literature and science. In the Babylonian mythology he is represented as the son and interpreter of Bel-merodach (compare Isaiah 46:1; Bel and Nebo there represent Babylon). His own special shrine was at Borsippo. His planet was Mercury. His name enters into Biblical names, as "Nebuchadnezzar," and perhaps "Abed-nego" (Daniel 1:7, for "Abed-nebo, servant of Nebo").

See BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA, RELIGION OF.

NEBO (2)

(nebho; Nabau):

(1) This town is named in Numbers 32:3 between Sebam and Beon (which latter evidently represents Baal-meon of 32:38), after Heshbon and Elealeh, as among the cities assigned by Moses to Reuben. It was occupied by the Reubenite clan Bela (1 Chronicles 5:8). Here it is named between Aroer and Baalmeon. In their denunciations of wrath against Moab, Isaiah names it along with Medeba (Isaiah 15:2) and Jeremiah with Kiriathaim (Jeremiah 48:1), and again (Jeremiah 48:22) between Dibon and Beth-diblathaim. Mesha (M S) says that by command of Chemosh he went by night against the city, captured it after an assault that lasted from dawn till noon, and put all the inhabitants to death. He dedicated the place to Ashtar-chemosh. Jerome (Commentary on Isaiah 15:2) tells us that at Nebo was the idol of Chemosh. The site which seems best to meet the requirements of the passages indicated is on the ridge of Jebel Neba to the Southwest of Hesban, where ruins of an ancient town bearing the name of en-Neba are found (Buhl, GAP, 266).

(2) (nebho; B, Nabou A, Nabo, and other forms): Fifty-two descendants of the inhabitants of Nebo returned from exile with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:29 Nehemiah 7:33). The place was in Judah and is named after Bethel and Ai. There is nothing, however, to guide us as to its exact position. It may be represented by either Belt Nuba, 12 miles Northwest of Jerusalem, or Nuba, which lies about 4 miles South-Southeast of `Id el-Ma' (Adullam).

W. Ewing

NEBO, MOUNT

(har nebho; Nabau): A mountain in the land of Moab which Moses ascended at the command of God in order that he might see the Land of Promise which he was never to enter. There also he was to die. From the following passages (namely, Numbers 33:47 Deuteronomy 32:49; Deuteronomy 34:1), we gather that it was not far from the plain of Moab in which Israel was encamped; that it was a height standing out to the West of the mountains of Abarim; that it lay to the East of Jericho; and that it was a spot from which a wide and comprehensive view of Palestine could be obtained. None of these conditions are met by Jebel `Attarus, which is too far to the East, and is fully 15 miles South of a line drawn eastward from Jericho. Jebel 'Osha, again, in Mt. Gilead, commands, indeed, an extensive view; but it lies too far to the North, being at least 15 miles North of a line drawn eastward from Jericho. Both of these sites have had their advocates as claimants for the honor of representing the Biblical Nebo.

The "head" or "top" of Pisgah is evidently identical with Mt. Nebo (Deuteronomy 34:1). After Moses' death he was buried "in the valley in the land of Moab," over against Beth-peor.

The name Neba is found on a ridge which, some 5 miles Southwest of Hesban and opposite the northern end of the Dead Sea, runs out to the West from the plateau of Moab, "sinking gradually: at first a broad brown field of arable land, then a flat top crowned by a ruined cairn, then a narrower ridge ending in the summit called Siagbah, whence the slopes fall steeply on all sides. The name Nebo or Neba (the "knob" or "tumulus") applies to the flat top with the cairn, and the name Tal`at es-Sufa to the ascent leading up to the ridge from the North. Thus we have three names which seem to connect the ridge with that whence Moses is related to have viewed the Promised Land, namely, first, Nebo, which is identically the same word as the modern Neba; secondly, Siaghah, which is radically identical with the Aramaic Se`ath, the word standing instead of Nebo in the Targum of Onkelos (Numbers 32:3), where it is called the burial place of Moses; thirdly, Tal`at es-Sufa, which is radically identical with the Hebrew Zuph (tsuph), whence Mizpah (mitspah) and Zophim (tsophim..... The name Pisgah is not now known, but the discovery of Zophim (compare Numbers 23:14) confirms the view now generally held, that it is but another title of the Nebo range."

Neither Mt. Hermon nor Dan (Tell el-Qady) is visible from this point; nor can Zoar be seen; and if the Mediterranean is the hinder sea, it also is invisible. But, as Driver says ("Dt," ICC, 419), the terms in Deuteronomy 34:1, 3 are hyperbolical, and must be taken as including points filled in by the imagination as well as those actually visible to the eye. Mr. Birch argues in favor of Tal`at el-Benat, whence he believes Dan and Zoar to be visible, while he identifies "the hinder sea" with the Dead Sea (PEFS, 1898, 110;).

W. Ewing

Proclaimer; prophet.

(1.) A Chaldean god whose worship was introduced into Assyria by Pul (Isaiah 46:1; Jeremiah 48:1). To this idol was dedicated the great temple whose ruins are still seen at Birs Nimrud. A statue of Nebo found at Calah, where it was set up by Pul, king of Assyria, is now in the British Museum.

(2.) A mountain in the land of Moab from which Moses looked for the first and the last time on the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 32:49; 34:1). It has been identified with Jebel Nebah, on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, near its northern end, and about 5 miles south-west of Heshbon. It was the summit of the ridge of Pisgah (q.v.), which was a part of the range of the "mountains of Abarim." It is about 2,643 feet in height, but from its position it commands a view of Western Palestine. Close below it are the plains of Moab, where Balaam, and afterwards Moses, saw the tents of Israel spread along.

(3.) A town on the east of Jordan which was taken possession of and rebuilt by the tribe of Reuben (Numbers 32:3, 38; 1 Chronicles 5:8). It was about 8 miles south of Heshbon.

(4.) The "children of Nebo" (Ezra 2:29; Nehemiah 7:33) were of those who returned from Babylon. It was a town in Benjamin, probably the modern Beit Nubah, about 7 miles north-west of Hebron.

5562. Samgar Nebo -- a Bab. officer
Samgar Nebo. << 5561, 5562. Samgar Nebo. 5563 >>. a Bab. officer. Transliteration:
Samgar Nebo Phonetic Spelling: (sam-gar' neb-o') Short Definition: Samgar-nebu ...
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5015b. Nebo -- a Bab. god
... << 5015a, 5015b. Nebo. 5016 >>. a Bab. god. Transliteration: Nebo Short Definition:
Nebo. Word Origin from nabab Definition a Bab. god NASB Word Usage Nebo (1). ...
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5015a. Nebo -- a city in Moab, also a mountain in Moab
... << 5015, 5015a. Nebo. 5015b >>. a city in Moab, also a mountain in Moab.
Transliteration: Nebo Short Definition: Nebo. Word Origin from ...
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5664. Abed Nego -- "servant of Nebo," Bab. name of one of Daniel's ...
Abed Nego. << 5663, 5664. Abed Nego. 5665 >>. "servant of Nebo," Bab. ... Word
Origin of foreign origin Definition "servant of Nebo," Bab. ...
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5018. Nebuzaradan -- "Nebo has given seed," a Bab. general
... << 5017, 5018. Nebuzaradan. 5019 >>. "Nebo has given seed," a Bab. ... Word Origin
of foreign origin Definition "Nebo has given seed," a Bab. ...
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5021. Nebushaz-ban -- "O Nebo, deliver me," a Bab. officer
Nebushaz-ban. << 5020, 5021. Nebushaz-ban. 5022 >>. "O Nebo, deliver me," a Bab. ...
Word Origin of foreign origin Definition "O Nebo, deliver me," a Bab. ...
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5665. Abed Nego -- "servant of Nebo," Bab. name of one of Daniel's ...
Abed Nego. << 5664, 5665. Abed Nego. 5666 >>. "servant of Nebo," Bab. ... Word Origin
(Aramaic) of foreign origin Definition "servant of Nebo," Bab. ...
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5019. Nebukadnetstsar -- "Nebo, protect the boundary," a Bab. king
... Nebukadnetstsar or Nebbukadnetstsar. 5020 >>. "Nebo, protect the boundary," a Bab. ...
Word Origin of foreign origin Definition "Nebo, protect the boundary," a Bab. ...
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5015. Nbow -- a city in Moab, also a mountain in Moab
... << 5014, 5015. Nbow. 5015a >>. a city in Moab, also a mountain in Moab. Transliteration:
Nbow Phonetic Spelling: (neb-o') Short Definition: Nebo. Nebo ...
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