Difference between revisions of "Heshbon"

<p> [[Heshbon]] ( ''Hĕsh'Bŏn'' ), ''Reason, Device.'' A city of the Moabites, taken by Sihon, king of the Amorites, and made his capital; captured and occupied by the Israelites, &nbsp;Numbers 21:25-26; situated on the boundary between [[Reuben]] and Gad; rebuilt by Reuben and made a [[Levitical]] city, then being territorially a [[Gadite]] city. &nbsp;Numbers 32:3; &nbsp;Numbers 32:37; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 1:4; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 2:24-30; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 3:2; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 3:6; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 4:46; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 29:7; &nbsp;Joshua 9:10; &nbsp;Joshua 12:2; &nbsp;Joshua 12:5; &nbsp;Joshua 13:10-27; &nbsp;Joshua 21:39; &nbsp;Judges 11:19; &nbsp;Judges 11:26; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 6:81. In later times the [[Moabites]] regained possession of Heshbon, so that it is mentioned as a Moabitish town in the prophetic denunciations against that people. &nbsp;Isaiah 15:4; &nbsp;Isaiah 16:8-9; &nbsp;Jeremiah 48:2; &nbsp;Jeremiah 48:34; &nbsp;Jeremiah 48:45; &nbsp;Jeremiah 49:3. The ruins of the city still exist some 15 miles east of the northern end of the [[Dead]] sea, on the great table land of Moab. A small hill rises 200 feet above the general level, and upon this is Heshbon, now called Hesbân. East of the city are the remains of water-courses and an enormous cistern, or "fish-pond," which illustrates &nbsp;Song of [[Solomon]] 7:4. </p>

<p> The [[Amorite]] king Sihon's capital (&nbsp;Numbers 21:26, etc.). On the western border of the "high plain", '''''Mishor''''' (&nbsp;Joshua 13:17), on the boundary between Reuben and Gad. Now Hesban, 20 miles E. of Jordan, on a line with the N. of the Dead Sea. In the poem, "there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, ... it hath consumed [[Ar]] of [[Moab]] .... Woe unto thee, Moab: he hath given his sons ... and his daughters ... unto Sihon," the poet paints Heshbon's triumph over Moab, and Moab's misery; but suddenly the scene changes, and [[Israel]] is introduced as conquering the conqueror: "We have shot at them, Heshbon is perished." etc. </p> <p> At Jahaz, a little S. of Heshbon, Israel overthrew [[Sihon]] (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 2:32-33). Heshbon was rebuilt by Reuben (&nbsp;Numbers 32:37), but assigned to the [[Levites]] in connection with [[Gad]] (&nbsp;Joshua 21:39). It passed from Israel into the hands of its former masters the Moabites before the captivity. It is included accordingly in Isaiah's (&nbsp;Isaiah 15:4) and Jeremiah's (&nbsp;Jeremiah 48:2-34; &nbsp;Jeremiah 48:45) denunciations of Moat. Playing upon the meaning of Heshbon (a place of devising counsel) Jeremiah says, "in Heshbon they (the Chaldaeans) have devised evil against Moab." </p> <p> The old proverb shall hold good again; as anciently Sihon seized Heshbon, and issued forth thence as a devouring flame against Moab, so now the [[Chaldeans]] shall seize Heshbon and make it their starting point to destroy Moab. The ruins stand on a low hall, and are a mile in circuit, but do not include a single entire building. On the southern base of the hill is an ancient reservoir; compare &nbsp;Song of Solomon 7:4, "thine eyes are like the fish pools in Heshbon (deep, quiet, full, reflecting the bridegroom's image) by the gate of Bathrabbim" (daughter of of a multitude; a crowded thoroughfare of Heshbon). The bride is calm amidst the crowd. </p>

<p> (Hebrew Cheshbon', '''''חֶשְׁבּוֹן''''' '', Intelligence,'' as in &nbsp;Ecclesiastes 7:25, etc.; Sept. '''''Ε᾿Σεβών''''' ; Josephus), a town in the southern district of the [[Hebrew]] territory beyond the Jordan, on the western border of the high plain ''(Mishor,'' &nbsp;Joshua 13:17). It originally belonged to the Moabites, but when the Israelites arrived from Egypt it was- found to be-in the possession of the Amorites, whose king, Sihon, is styled both king of the Amorites and king of Heshbon, and is expressly said to have "reigned in Heshbon" (&nbsp;Joshua 3:10; comp. &nbsp;Numbers 21:26; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 2:9). It was taken by Moses (&nbsp;Numbers 21:23-26), and eventually became a Levitical city (&nbsp;Joshua 21:39; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 6:81) in the tribe of Reuben (&nbsp;Numbers 32:37; &nbsp;Joshua 13:17); but, being on the confines of Gad, is sometimes assigned to the latter tribe (&nbsp;Joshua 21:39; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 6:81). After the Ten Tribes were sent into exile, Heshbon was taken possession of by the Moabites, and hence is mentioned by the prophets in their declarations against Moab (&nbsp;Isaiah 15:4; &nbsp;Jeremiah 48:2; &nbsp;Jeremiah 48:34; &nbsp;Jeremiah 48:45). Under king Alexander Janneus we find it again reckoned as a [[Jewish]] city (Josephus, Ant. 13, 15, 4). Pliny mentions a tribe of Arabs called Esbonitae (Hist. Nat. 5, 11; comp. Abulfeda, Tab. Syr. p. 11). </p> <p> In the time of [[Eusebius]] and [[Jerome]] (Ononmast. s.v. '''''Ε᾿Σσεβών''''' '')'' it was still a place of some consequence under the name ''Of Esbus'' ( '''''Ε᾿Σβούς''''' ), but at the present day it is known by its ancient name, in the slightly modified form of Hesban. The region was first visited in modern times by Seetzen. The site is twenty miles east of the Jordan, on the parallel of the northern end of the Dead Sea., The ruins of a considerable town still exist, covering the sides of an insulated hill, but not a single edifice is left entire. The view from the summit is very extensive, embracing the ruins of a vast number of cities, the names of some of which bear a strong resemblance to those mentioned in Scripture. These environs, occupying the elevated plain between the mountains of [[Jazer]] and the Jabbok, seem to be referred to in &nbsp;Joshua 13:16. There are reservoirs connected with this and the other towns of this region. These have been supposed to be the "fish-pools" ( '''''בְּרֵכוֹת''''' , ''Cisterns)'' of Heshbon mentioned by Solomon (&nbsp;Song of Solomon 7:4) (See Bath- Rabbiam); but say Irby and Mangles, "The ruins are uninteresting, and the only pool we saw was too insignificant to be one of those mentioned in Scripture" (p. 472). In two of the cisterns among the ruins they found about three dozen of human skulls and bones, which they justly regarded as an illustration (of &nbsp;Genesis 37:20(Travels, p. 472; see also [[George]] Robinson, lord Lindsay, Schwarz, Tristram, etc.). Dr. Macmichael and his party went to look for these pools, but they found only one, which was extremely insignificant. This is probably the reservoir mentioned by [[Burckhardt]] ''(Syria,'' p. 365). Mr. Buckingham, however, says, "The large reservoir to the south of the town, and about half a mile from the foot of the hill on which it stands, is constructed with good masonry, and not unlike the cisterns of Solomon, near Jerusalem, to which it is also nearly equal in size." Towards the western part of the hill is a singular structure, whose crumbling ruins exhibit the workmanship of successive ages the massive stones of the Jewish period, the sculptured cornice of the Roman era, and the light Saracenic arch, all grouped together (Porter, Handb. for Palest. p. 298). </p>

<p> ''''' hesh´bon ''''' ( חשׁבּון , <i> ''''' ḥeshbōn ''''' </i> ; Ἑσεβών , <i> ''''' Hesebō̇n ''''' </i> ): The royal city of Sihon king of the Amorites, taken and occupied by the Israelites under Moses (&nbsp; Numbers 21:25 f, etc.). It lay on the southern border of Gad (&nbsp; Joshua 13:26 ), and was one of the cities fortified by Reuben (&nbsp;Numbers 32:37 ). It is reckoned among the cities of Gad given to the [[Merarite]] Levites (&nbsp;Joshua 21:39 ). In later literature (&nbsp;Isaiah 15:4; &nbsp;Isaiah 16:8 f; &nbsp; Jeremiah 48:2 , &nbsp;Jeremiah 48:34 , &nbsp;Jeremiah 48:45; &nbsp;Jeremiah 49:3 ) it is referred to as a city of Moab. It passed again into Jewish hands, and is mentioned by Josephus ( <i> Ant. </i> , Xiii , xv, 4) as among their possessions in the country of Moab under Alexander Janneus. The city with its district called Hesebonitis, was also under the jurisdiction of Herod the Great ( <i> Ant. </i> , XV, vii, 5, where it is described as lying in the Peraea). Eusebius, <i> Onomasticon </i> places it 20 Roman miles from the Jordan. It is represented by the modern <i> ''''' Ḥesbān ''''' </i> , a ruined site in the mountains over against Jericho, about 16 miles east of the Jordan. It stands on the edge of <i> ''''' Wādy Ḥesbān ''''' </i> in a position of great strength, about 600 ft. above <i> ''''' ‛Ain Ḥesbān ''''' </i> . The ruins, dating mainly from Roman times, spread over two hills, respectively 2,930 ft. and 2,954 ft. in height. There are remains of a temple overlooked from the West by those of a castle. There is also a large ruined reservoir; while the spring in the valley forms a succession of pools (&nbsp;Song of Solomon 7:4 ). The city is approached from the valley by a steep path passing through a cutting in the rock, which may have been closed by a gate (Conder, <i> [[Heth]] and Moab </i> , 142). On a hill to the West, <i> ''''' el ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' Kurmı̄yeh ''''' </i> , is a collection of dolmens and stone circles (Musil, <i> [[Arabia]] Petrea </i> , I, 383ff). </p>