Ar

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

The "chief city" (as the name means) of Moab ( Deuteronomy 2:9;  Numbers 21:15;  Numbers 21:28). On the S. side of the Arnon, due E. of the Dead Sea. Jerome calls it Areopolis, and Rabbath Moab, i.e. great Moab. The site is still called Rabba on the Roman road. Keil however denies that Ar is identical with the modern Rabba; he places Ar at the confluence of the Lejum and Mojeb, "in a fine green pasture, where there is a hill with some ruins" (Burckhardt). Rabba is six hours S. of Lejum. A stone from the Moabite city Medeba has been found inscribed with letters like the Sinaitic.

"We drove them away: ... the people of Ar, Moab at the marsh ground (or in the midst of the valley); there they made a thankoffering to God their King, and Jeshurun rejoiced, as also Moses their leader." Compare  Numbers 21:13-15;  Numbers 21:21-30;  Deuteronomy 2:18;  Deuteronomy 2:29;  Joshua 13:9;  Joshua 13:15-16. "What the Lord did ... at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab ... the city that is in the midst of the river." The Amorites of Heshbon had laid waste Ar, and in their turn were destroyed by Israel. Thus Israel came into possession of Ar, as the inscription records, confirming Scripture. Thus Keil's site would be the true one. But the reading of the inscription is doubtful. Eusebius implies that Arcopolls is not Ar, but the same as Rabbath Moab, a city of late growth and not mentioned in the Bible.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

AR . A city on the Arnon, the border between Moab and the Amorites (  Numbers 21:15 ,   Deuteronomy 2:9 ), now Wâdy Môjib . It is called Ar Moab (  Numbers 21:28 ,   Isaiah 15:1 ),’ ÃŽ Moab (  Numbers 22:35 ), and ‘the city that is in the valley’ (  Deuteronomy 2:36 etc.). It is possibly the ruin seen by Burckhardt in the valley below the junction of the Lejjûn and the Môjib .

W. Ewing.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

A chief city in the Moabite territory. In Jerome's time it was called Areopolis. It is identified with Rabba,, 35 38' E 31 19' N , about 10 miles from the Dead Sea.  Numbers 21:15,28;  Isaiah 15:1 . In other passages the name Ar appears to include the land of the Moabites.  Deuteronomy 2:9,18,29 .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Ar. (A City). Ar or Ar of Moab, one of the chief places of Moab.  Numbers 21:28;  Isaiah 15:1. In later times, the place known as Areopolis and Rabbath-Moab. The site still called Rabba . It lies about halfway between Kerak and the Wady Mojeb , 10 or 11 miles from each, the Roman road passing through it.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Ar (Ar ) and Ar of Moab .  Numbers 21:28. The chief city of Moab, on the east of the Salt Sea; called also Aroer,  Deuteronomy 2:36; sometimes used for the whole land of Moab,  Deuteronomy 2:29; burned by Sihon.  Numbers 21:26-30.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Numbers 21:15 Numbers 21:28 Numbers 21:28 Deuteronomy 2:9 Deuteronomy 2:18 Deuteronomy 2:29 Isaiah 15:1

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Called also Rabbah and Rabbath-Moab,  Numbers 21:28   Deuteronomy 2:1-37   Isaiah 15:1 . Its site, still called Rabbah, is found upon a hill some fifteen miles east of the Dead Sea, and south of the Arnon, midway between it and Kir Moab.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

the capital city of the Moabites, situated in the hills on the south of the river Arnon. This city was likewise called Rabbah or Rabbath Moab, to distinguish it from the Ammonite Rabbah. It was afterward called by the Greeks Areopolis; and is at present termed El-Rabba. See Moab .

Webster's Dictionary

(conj.) Ere; before.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. id. עָר i.q. עַיר , a City; Sept. ῎Αρ [v. 1: ῎Ηρ in  Numbers 21:15],  Deuteronomy 2:29; fully Ar-Moab,  Numbers 21:28;  Isaiah 15:1; also City Of Moab,  Numbers 22:36; prob. also for Mooabitis or the whole country,  Deuteronomy 2:9;  Deuteronomy 2:18), the capital city of the Moabites ( Numbers 21:28;  Deuteronomy 2:9;  Deuteronomy 2:18;  Deuteronomy 2:29), near (south of) the river Arnon ( Deuteronomy 2:18;  Deuteronomy 2:24;  Numbers 21:13-15). It appears to have been burnt by King Sihon ( Numbers 21:28), and Isaiah, in describing the future calamities of the Moabites, says, "In the night Ar of Moab is laid waste and brought to silence" ( Isaiah 15:1). In his comment on this passage, Jerome states that in his youth there was a great earthquake, by which Ar was destroyed in the night-time. This he evidently regards as a fulfillment of the prediction, which, however, had probably some less remote reference. Latterly the name of the city was Graecized Areopolis ( Ἀπεόπολις , q. d. "city of Mars"). It was an episcopal city of the Third Palestine (Reland, Palaest. p. 577 sq.). According to Theodoret

(Comment. in Isaiah 15, 29), it was sometimes called Ariel. This city was also called Rabbah or Rabbath, and, to distinguish it from Rabbath of Ammon, Rabbath-Moab. Ptolemy calls it Rabmathon; Steph. Byzantinus, Rabathmoma; and Abulfeda, (Tab. Syr. p. 90), Rabbath, and also Mab. Hengstenberg (Bileam, p. 236) thinks it is the modern Mehalet El-Haj, near the Arnon (Burckhardt, 3, 636); but it is usually identified with the site that still bears the name of Rabba, visited and described by Seetzen, Burckhardt, Legh, Macmichael, and Irby and Mangles. It is about 17 miles east of the Dead Sea, 10 miles south of the Arnon (Mojeb), and about the same distance north of Kerak (Robinson, Researches, 2:569). The ruins of Rabbah are situated on a low hill, which commands the whole plain. They present nothing of interest except two old Roman temples and some tanks. Irby and Mangles (Letters, p. 457) remark, with surprise, that the whole circuit of the town does not seem to have exceeded a mile. Burckhardt says, "half an hour in circuit," and that no trace of walls could Le found; but it is obvious from the descriptions that the city whose ruins they saw was a comparatively modern town, less important and extensive than the ancient metropolis of Moab (Syria, p. 374, 377). (See Moab).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Ar, the capital city of the Moabites ( Numbers 21:28;  Deuteronomy 2:9;  Deuteronomy 2:18;  Deuteronomy 2:29), near the river Arnon ( Deuteronomy 2:18;  Deuteronomy 2:24;  Numbers 21:13-15). It appears to have been burnt by King Sihon ( Numbers 21:28), and Isaiah, in describing the future calamities of the Moabites, says, 'In the night, Ar of Moab is laid waste and brought to silence' ( Isaiah 15:1). In his comment on this passage, Jerome states that in his youth there was a great earthquake, by which Ar was destroyed in the nighttime.

This city was also called Rabbah or Rabbath, and, to distinguish it from Rabbath of Ammon, Rabbath-Moab. The site still bears the name of Rabbah. It is about 17 miles east of the Dead Sea, 10 miles south of the Arnon (Modjeb), and about the same distance north of Kerek. The ruins of Rabbah are situated on a low hill, which commands the whole plain. They present nothing of interest except two old Roman temples and some tanks.