Heshbon

People's Dictionary of the Bible

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,  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.  Numbers 32:3;  Numbers 32:37;  Deuteronomy 1:4;  Deuteronomy 2:24-30;  Deuteronomy 3:2;  Deuteronomy 3:6;  Deuteronomy 4:46;  Deuteronomy 29:7;  Joshua 9:10;  Joshua 12:2;  Joshua 12:5;  Joshua 13:10-27;  Joshua 21:39;  Judges 11:19;  Judges 11:26;  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.  Isaiah 15:4;  Isaiah 16:8-9;  Jeremiah 48:2;  Jeremiah 48:34;  Jeremiah 48:45;  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  Song of Solomon 7:4.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

The Amorite king Sihon's capital ( Numbers 21:26, etc.). On the western border of the "high plain", Mishor ( 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.

At Jahaz, a little S. of Heshbon, Israel overthrew Sihon ( Deuteronomy 2:32-33). Heshbon was rebuilt by Reuben ( Numbers 32:37), but assigned to the Levites in connection with Gad ( 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 ( Isaiah 15:4) and Jeremiah's ( Jeremiah 48:2-34;  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."

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  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.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

HESHBON is the modern Hesbân , finely situated close to the edge of the great plateau of Eastern Palestine. The extensive ruins, mainly of Roman times, lie on two hills connected by a saddle. The site commands views, E. and S., of rolling country; N., of hills, including e.g. that on which el-‘At (Elealeh) lies; and W., in the distance, of the hills of Judah, and nearer, through a gap in the near hills, of the Jordan valley, which lies some 4000 feet below, the river itself being barely 20 miles distant. Allotted to Reuben (  Joshua 13:17 ), Heshbon appears in the OT most frequently as being, or having been, the capital of Sihon (wh. see), king of the Amorites (  Deuteronomy 2:26 and often), or, like many other towns in this neighbourhood, in the actual possession of the Moahites (  Isaiah 15:4;   Isaiah 16:8 f.,   Jeremiah 48:2;   Jeremiah 48:34 f.), to whom, according to   Numbers 21:26 , it had belonged before Sihon captured it.   Jeremiah 49:3 , which appears to make Heshbon an Amorite city, is probably corrupt (cf. Driver, Book of the Prophet Jeremiah ). According to Josephus ( Ant . XIII. xv. 4), it was in the hands of the Jews in the time of Alexander Jannæus (b.c. 104 78). The pools in Heshbon, mentioned in   Song of Solomon 7:4 , were perhaps pools near the spring which rises 600 feet below the city, and in the neighbourhood of which are traces of ancient conduits.

G. B. Gray.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Numbers 21:21-30 Isaiah 15-16  Jeremiah 48:1 Numbers 32:3 32:37 Numbers 21:21-31 Judges 11:12-28

Heshbon was assigned to the tribe of Gad and designated as a Levitical city according to  Joshua 13:27-28;  Joshua 21:38-39 . Song of  Song of Solomon 7:4 , describing a maiden's beauty, proclaims “thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon.” Herod the Great fortified the site, and it became a flourishing city (called Esbus) during late Roman times. Esbus continued as an active city during the Byzantine period (fourth through the sixth centuries A.D.), at which time its population embraced Christianity. A bishop from Esbus participated in the council of Chalcedon.

Excavations at tell Hesban, conducted between 1968,1978, produced occupational remains ranging from the beginning of the Iron Age (about 1200 B.C.) through medieval times. No evidence of pre-Iron Age occupation was discovered at the site. That is the period when King Sihon was supposed to have ruled from the city. See Gad; Moab; Reuben; Sihon .

Maxwell Miller

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

The city of Heshbon was situated on the tableland of Moab, about twenty kilometres east of the point where the Jordan River enters the Dead Sea. It was a chief city of Moab, till lost to the Amorites. The Amorites in turn lost it to the Israelites just before their attack on Canaan ( Numbers 21:25-26;  Deuteronomy 3:2). When the conquered territories were divided among Israel’s tribes, Heshbon fell within the tribal area of Reuben ( Numbers 32:2-5;  Numbers 32:37;  Joshua 13:15-21;  Judges 11:26). (For map and other details see Moab .)

Several centuries later, during the time of Israel’s divided kingdom, Moab regained possession of Heshbon. But the city was doomed to destruction in the divine judgment that was to fall upon Moab ( Isaiah 15:1;  Isaiah 15:4;  Isaiah 16:8;  Jeremiah 48:1-2;  Jeremiah 48:45;  Jeremiah 49:3).

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Chief city of Sihon king of the Amorites. Lying on the east of the Jordan, it was the first city of importance that fell into the hands of the Israelites. The cause of their attacking it was that Sihon refused to let them pass through his land. This initial conquest is often referred to. Heshbon was subsequently assigned to Reuben, but became a Levitical city in connection with Gad.  Numbers 21:25-34;  Deuteronomy 2:24-30;  Joshua 13:17-27;  1 Chronicles 6:81 . After the captivity it fell into the hands of the Moabites; and is denounced in the prophets.  Isaiah 15:4;  Jeremiah 48:2,34,45;  Jeremiah 49:3 . Identified with Hesban, 31 48' N, 35 48' E . There are extensive ruins showing its former strength as a fortified city.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A celebrated city of the Amorites, twenty miles east of the mouth of the Jordan,  Joshua 3:10;  13:17 . It was given to Reuben; but was afterwards transferred to Gad, and then to the Levites. It had been conquered from the Moabites by Sihon, and because his capital; and was taken by the Israelites a little before the death of Moses,  Numbers 21:25;  Joshua 21:39 . After the ten tribes were transplanted into the country beyond the Euphrates, the Moabites recovered it,  Isaiah 15:4;  Jeremiah 48:2,34,45 . Its ruins are still called Hesban, and cover the sides of a hill seven miles north of Medeba.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Hesh'bon. (Stronghold). The capital city of Sihon, king of the Amorites.  Numbers 21:26. It stood on the western border of the high plain - Mishor,  Joshua 13:17 - and on the boundary line between the tribes of Reuben and Gad. The ruins of Hesban , 20 miles east of the Jordan, on the parallel of the northern end of the Dead Sea mark the site, as they bear the name; of the ancient Heshbon. There are many cisterns among the ruins. Compare  Song of Solomon 7:4.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Joshua 3:10 13:17 Numbers 21:23-26 Joshua 21:39 Numbers 32:37 Isaiah 15:4 Jeremiah 48:2,34,45 Song of Solomon 7:4

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

a celebrated city beyond Jordan, twenty miles eastward of that river, according to Eusebius. It was given to the tribe of Reuben,  Joshua 13:17 . It was probably made over to Gad, since we meet with it among the cities which were given to the Levites,  Joshua 21:39 .

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Hebrew Cheshbon', חֶשְׁבּוֹן , Intelligence, as in  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,  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" ( Joshua 3:10; comp.  Numbers 21:26;  Deuteronomy 2:9). It was taken by Moses ( Numbers 21:23-26), and eventually became a Levitical city ( Joshua 21:39;  1 Chronicles 6:81) in the tribe of Reuben ( Numbers 32:37;  Joshua 13:17); but, being on the confines of Gad, is sometimes assigned to the latter tribe ( Joshua 21:39;  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 ( Isaiah 15:4;  Jeremiah 48:2;  Jeremiah 48:34;  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).

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  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 ( 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  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).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

hesh´bon ( חשׁבּון , ḥeshbōn  ; Ἑσεβών , Hesebō̇n ): The royal city of Sihon king of the Amorites, taken and occupied by the Israelites under Moses (  Numbers 21:25 f, etc.). It lay on the southern border of Gad (  Joshua 13:26 ), and was one of the cities fortified by Reuben ( Numbers 32:37 ). It is reckoned among the cities of Gad given to the Merarite Levites ( Joshua 21:39 ). In later literature ( Isaiah 15:4;  Isaiah 16:8 f;   Jeremiah 48:2 ,  Jeremiah 48:34 ,  Jeremiah 48:45;  Jeremiah 49:3 ) it is referred to as a city of Moab. It passed again into Jewish hands, and is mentioned by Josephus ( Ant. , 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 ( Ant. , XV, vii, 5, where it is described as lying in the Peraea). Eusebius, Onomasticon places it 20 Roman miles from the Jordan. It is represented by the modern Ḥesbān , a ruined site in the mountains over against Jericho, about 16 miles east of the Jordan. It stands on the edge of Wādy Ḥesbān in a position of great strength, about 600 ft. above ‛Ain Ḥesbān . 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 ( 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, Heth and Moab , 142). On a hill to the West, el - Kurmı̄yeh , is a collection of dolmens and stone circles (Musil, Arabia Petrea , I, 383ff).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Hesh´bon, a town in the southern district of the Hebrew territory beyond the Jordan, parallel with, and twenty-one miles east of, the point where the Jordan enters the Dead Sea, and nearly midway between the rivers Jabbock and Arnon. 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' (; comp.; ). It was taken by Moses , and eventually became a Levitical city in the tribe of Reuben ; but being on the confines of Gad, is sometimes assigned to the latter tribe . 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 . Under King Alexander Jannaeus we find it again reckoned as a Jewish city. At the present day it is known by its ancient name of Heshbon, in the slightly modified form of Hesban. 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.