Meaning: stony, fruitful passages

References: 4x Num 27:12; 33:47-48; Deut 32:49

A range of hills lying between the river Arnon and Jordan, Num 33:47.

Arrowsmith Geographical Dictionary of Holy Scriptures (1855)

Abarim, Mt., or Avarim, or Mountains of Abarim, a range of mountains on the east side of Jordan, partly forming the frontier of the Mobaites, Ammonites, and also of the tribe of Reuben. The word signifies passages; and hence it has been supposed that this range of mountains derived its name from the various passages over them from one country to another. Others, however, connect the origin with the ancient mythology of the country. It extended a considerable way into the territories of the Reubenites; and a portion of it is described by Eusebius, as lying 6 miles east of Heshbon. It is mentioned in Deut. 32:49, as being over against Jericho, and is so described by Josephs. It contained the several summits of Nebo, Pisgah, and Peor, Num 23:28; 27:12; Deut. 3:27; 32:49; 34:1.

t was so lofty that from it Moses had his eyes strengthened to view the whole of the Promised Land, from Dan and Lebanon to the North to its South borders and the Mediterranean Sea, Deut 3:24-27; 34:1-4. It was on one of the summits of this mountain that Moses died. The children of Israel, after they had cross the River ARnon, pitched their camp for a time in the Mountains of Abarim, Num 32:47-48, whence they withdrew to the Plains of Moab, by Jordan. Another of their encampments, called in our translation Ije-abarim, Num 21:11; 33:44; and in our margin Heaps of Abarim, is rendered by some scholar “Iim on Mt. Abarim” (cfg Num 33:45). If this be correct, it would seem that the general range of the Abarim must have extended a long way further south into Arabia Petrea, or else there must have been two mountains of the same name. The words rendered “cry from the passages,” in our version of Jer 22:20, are otherwise translated by some “cry from Abarim.” Eusebius and Jerome describe part of the mountain-ridge near Heshbon as retaining in their days the name of Abarim.

Concise Bible Dictionary

Probably the chain of mountains that lie ‘beyond’ or to the east of the Dead Sea and the lower Jordan. Nu 33:47,48 Deut 32:49, 50, shews that mount Nebo was connected with Abarim and that it was ‘over against Jericho’ and also that it was where Moses viewed the land and died. Nu 27:12,13 Deut 3:27connects this with Pisgah; so that Pisgah and Nebo apparently formed part of Abarim, in the land of Moab. Abarim is translated ‘passages’ in Jer 22:20.

Easton

regions beyond; i.e., on the east of Jordan, a mountain, or rather a mountain-chain, over against Jericho, to the east and south-east of the Dead Sea, in the land of Moab. From “the top of Pisgah”, i.e., Mount Nebo (q.v.), one of its summits, Moses surveyed the Promised Land (Deut. 3:27; 32:49), and there he died (Deut 34:1,5). The Israelites had one of their encampments in the mountains of Abarim (Num. 33:47,48) after crossing the Arnon.

Fausset

Connected with Nebo and Pisgah in Deut 32:49; Deut 34:1. Abarim was probably the mountain chain, Nebo one mountain of it, and Pisgah the highest peak of Nebo. Peor also belonged to the range. The chain east of the Dead Sea and lower Jordan commands most extensive views of the country west of the river. It was from Pisgah that Moses took his view of the promised land just before he died.

Some identify mount Attarous, the loftiest hill in this region, ten miles north of the river Arnon, with Nebo. Its top is marked by a pistachio tree overshadowing a heap of stones. The Hebrew means “the mountains of the regions beyond,” namely, the Jordan, or else “the mountains of the passages.” They were in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho. Compare Num 27:12; Num 33:47-48; Deut 3:27. Dr. Tristram verified the observation of the landscape from Nebo, as seen by Moses according to the Scripture record. There is one isolated cone commanding a view of the valley where Israel’s battle was fought with Amalek, which may be the Pisgah of holy writ.

Smith

(regions beyond), a mountain or range of highlands on the east of the Jordan, in the land of Moab, facing Jericho, and forming the eastern wall of the Jordan valley at that part. Its most elevated spot was “the Mount Nebo, ’head’ of ’the’ Pisgah,” from which Moses viewed the Promised Land before his death. These mountains are mentioned in (Numbers 27:12; Num 33:47; Num 33:48) and Deuteronomy 32:49

Amtrac

Mountains east of the Dead Sea and the lower Jordan, “over against Jericho,” within the territory of Moab and the tribe of Reuben. It is impossible to define exactly their extent. The mountains Nebe, Pisgah, and Peor were in the Abarim, Nu 27:12; 33:47, 48; Deut 32:49; 34:1. Ije-abarim, Nu 21:11, seems to denote the southern part of the same chain.

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

Bordering the Jordan River on its eastern side was a region that in the south was commonly known as the Plains of Moab. Within this region was a mountainous area known as Abarim, which contained the prominent peak, Mt Nebo. Israel camped on the Plains of Moab while making final preparations to cross Jordan and conquer Canaan. From Mt Nebo Moses viewed the land on the other side of the river before he died (Num 33:47-48; Deut 32:49; 34:1,7).

ISBE

ab´a-rim, a-bā´rim (עברים, ‛ăbhārı̄m): The stem idea is that of going across space or a dividing line, or for example a river. It is the same stem that appears in the familiar phrase “beyond Jordan,” used to denote the region east of the Jordan, and Hellenized in the name Peraea. This fact affords the most natural explanation of the phrases ‘the mountains of the Abarim’ (Num 33:47, Num 33:48); ‘this mountain-country of the Abarim’ (Num 27:12; Deut 32:49); Iye-abarim, which means “Heaps of the Abarim,” or “Mounds of the Abarim” (Num 21:11; Num 33:44). In Num 33:45 this station is called simply Iyim, “Mounds.” It is to be distinguished from the place of the same name in southern Judah (Jos 15:29). The name Abarim, without the article, occurs in Jer (Num 22:20 the Revised Version (British and American), where the King James Version translates “the passages”), where it seems to be the name of a region, on the same footing with the names Lebanon and Bashan, doubtless the region referred to in Nu and Deuteronomy. There is no reason for changing the vowels in Eze 39:11, in order to make that another occurrence of the same name.

When the people of Abraham lived in Canaan, before they went to Egypt to sojourn, they spoke of the region east of the Jordan as “beyond Jordan.” Looking across the Jordan and the Dead Sea they designated the mountain country they saw there as “the Beyond mountains.” They continued to use these geographical terms when they came out of Egypt. We have no means of knowing to how extensive a region they applied the name. The passages speak of the mountain country of Abarim where Moses died, including Nebo, as situated back from the river Jordan in its lowest reaches; and of the Mounds of the Abarim as farther to the southeast, so that the Israelites passed them when making their detour around the agricultural parts of Edom, before they crossed the Arnon. Whether the name Abarim should be applied to the parts of the eastern hill country farther to the north is a question on which we lack evidence.

Wikipedia.org

Abarim (Hebrew: הָרֵי הָעֲבָרִים, Har Ha-‘Avarim, Harei Ha-‘Avarim; Septuagint to oros to Abarim, en to peran tou Iordanou, mountain Abarim, mountains of Abarim) is a mountain range across Jordan, to the east and south-east of the Dead Sea, extending from Mount Nebo — its highest point — in the north, perhaps to the Arabian desert in the south. The Vulgate (Deuteronomy 32:49) gives its etymological meaning as passages. Its northern part was called Phasga (or Pisgah), and the highest peak of Phasga was Mount Nebo (Numbers 23:14; 27:12; 21:20; 32:47; Deuteronomy 3:27; 34:1; 32:49). From “the top of Pisgah,” i.e., Mount Nebo, an area which belonged to Moab, Moses surveyed the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 3:27; 32:49), and there he died (34:1,5). Balaam blessed Israel the second time from the top of Mount Phasga (Numbers 23:14); and here Jeremias hid the ark (II Maccabees 2:4-5). The Israelites had one of their encampments in the mountains of Abarim (Num. 33:47,48) after crossing the Arnon. Jeremiah couples it with Bashan and Lebanon as locations from which the people cry in vain to God for rescue (Jeremiah 22:20).

See also Nebo, Peor, and Pisgah