Moab Utah.com
Please support the sponsor of this page!
Slickrock Panorama

Where Did the Name Moab Come From?

The name Moab is a Biblical name for a land just short of the Promised Land. The Moabites were historically regarded as the perpetual enemy of the Israelites, "God's Chosen People." Physically, the region was a green, verdant valley in the middle of a serious desert; an emerald in the sand, so to speak. Because of those similarities, our little town was dubbed Moab by Mormon settlers in the 1800's.

Here are the 137 Bible verses in which Moab was mentioned.


Gen. 19:37 Lot's older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today.

Gen. 36:35 When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, succeeded him as king. His city was named Avith.

Exod. 15:15 The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away;

Num. 21:11 Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the desert that faces Moab toward the sunrise.

Num. 21:13 They set out from there and camped alongside the Arnon, which is in the desert extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.

Num. 21:15 and the slopes of the ravines that lead to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab."

Num. 21:20 and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.

Num. 21:26 Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken from him all his land as far as the Arnon.

Num. 21:28 "Fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the citizens of Arnon's heights.

Num. 21:29 Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He has given up his sons as fugitives and his daughters as captives to Sihon king of the Amorites.

Num. 22:1 Then the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho.

Num. 22:3 and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites.

Num. 22:4 The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, "This horde is going to lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field." So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time,

Num. 22:7 The elders of Moab and Midian left, taking with them the fee for divination. When they came to Balaam, they told him what Balak had said.

Num. 22:10 Balaam said to God, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message:

Num. 22:21 Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.

Num. 23:6 So he went back to him and found him standing beside his offering, with all the princes of Moab.

Num. 23:7 Then Balaam uttered his oracle: "Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains. Come,' he said, Curse Jacob for me; come, denounce Israel.'

Num. 23:17 So he went to him and found him standing beside his offering, with the princes of Moab. Balak asked him, "What did the LORD say?"

Num. 24:17 "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth.

Num. 26:3 So on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them and said,

Num. 26:63 These are the ones counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

Num. 31:12 and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.

Num. 33:44 They left Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, on the border of Moab.

Num. 33:48 They left the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

Num. 33:49 There on the plains of Moab they camped along the Jordan from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Shittim.

Num. 33:50 On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the LORD said to Moses,

Num. 35:1 On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, the LORD said to Moses,

Num. 36:13 These are the commands and regulations the LORD gave through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

Deut. 1:5 East of the Jordan in the territory of Moab, Moses began to expound this law, saying:

Deut. 2:8 So we went on past our brothers the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned from the Arabah road, which comes up from Elath and Ezion Geber, and traveled along the desert road of Moab.

Deut. 2:18 "Today you are to pass by the region of Moab at Ar.

Deut. 29:1 These are the terms of the covenant the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.

Deut. 32:49 "Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession.

Deut. 34:1 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land - from Gilead to Dan,

Deut. 34:5 And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said.

Deut. 34:6 He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is.

Deut. 34:8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.

Josh. 13:32 This is the inheritance Moses had given when he was in the plains of Moab across the Jordan east of Jericho.

Josh. 24:9 When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you.

Judg. 3:12 Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel.

Judg. 3:14 The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.

Judg. 3:15 Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer - Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.

Judg. 3:17 He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man.

Judg. 3:28 "Follow me," he ordered, "for the LORD has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands." So they followed him down and, taking possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab, they allowed no one to cross over.

Judg. 3:30 That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.

Judg. 10:6 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. And because the Israelites forsook the LORD and no longer served him,

Judg. 11:15 saying: This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites.

Judg. 11:17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ¬Give us permission to go through your country,' but the king of Edom would not listen. They sent also to the king of Moab, and he refused. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.

Judg. 11:18 "Next they traveled through the desert, skirted the lands of Edom and Moab, passed along the eastern side of the country of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon. They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was its border.

Judg. 11:25 Are you better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight with them?

Ruth 1:1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.

Ruth 1:2 The man's name was Elimelech, his wife's name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

Ruth 1:6 When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.

Ruth 1:22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

Ruth 2:6 The foreman replied, "She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi.

Ruth 4:3 Then he said to the kinsman-redeemer, "Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech.

1Sam. 12:9 "But they forgot the LORD their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.

1Sam. 14:47 After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them.

1Sam. 22:3 From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, "Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?"

1Sam. 22:4 So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold.

2Sam. 8:12 Edom and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek. He also dedicated the plunder taken from Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

1Kgs. 11:7 On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites.

2Kgs. 1:1 After Ahab's death, Moab rebelled against Israel.

2Kgs. 3:4 Now Mesha king of Moab raised sheep, and he had to supply the king of Israel with a hundred thousand lambs and with the wool of a hundred thousand rams.

2Kgs. 3:5 But after Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

2Kgs. 3:7 He also sent this message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?" I will go with you," he replied. "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses."

2Kgs. 3:10 "What!" exclaimed the king of Israel. "Has the LORD called us three kings together only to hand us over to Moab?"

2Kgs. 3:13 Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What do we have to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother." No," the king of Israel answered, "because it was the LORD who called us three kings together to hand us over to Moab."

2Kgs. 3:18 This is an easy thing in the eyes of the LORD; he will also hand Moab over to you.

2Kgs. 3:23 "That's blood!" they said. "Those kings must have fought and slaughtered each other. Now to the plunder, Moab!"

2Kgs. 3:26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle had gone against him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but they failed.

2Kgs. 23:13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption - the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the people of Ammon.

1Chr. 1:46 When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, succeeded him as king. His city was named Avith.

1Chr. 4:22 Jokim, the men of Cozeba, and Joash and Saraph, who ruled in Moab and Jashubi Lehem. (These records are from ancient times.)

1Chr. 8:8 Sons were born to Shaharaim in Moab after he had divorced his wives Hushim and Baara.

1Chr. 18:11 King David dedicated these articles to the LORD, as he had done with the silver and gold he had taken from all these nations: Edom and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek.

2Chr. 20:10 "But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them.

2Chr. 20:22 As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.

2Chr. 20:23 The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

Neh. 13:23 Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab.

Ps. 60:8 Moab is my washbasin, upon Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph."

Ps. 83:6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites,

Ps. 108:9 Moab is my washbasin, upon Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph."

Isa. 11:14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west; together they will plunder the people to the east. They will lay hands on Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject to them.

Isa. 15:1 An oracle concerning Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night!

Isa. 15:2 Dibon goes up to its temple, to its high places to weep; Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved and every beard cut off.

Isa. 15:4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out, and their hearts are faint.

Isa. 15:5 My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the way to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction.

Isa. 15:8 Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab; their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim, their lamentation as far as Beer Elim.

Isa. 15:9 Dimon's waters are full of blood, but I will bring still more upon Dimon - a lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon those who remain in the land.

Isa. 16:2 Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.

Isa. 16:7 Therefore the Moabites wail, they wail together for Moab. Lament and grieve for the men of Kir Hareseth.

Isa. 16:11 My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.

Isa. 16:12 When Moab appears at her high place, she only wears herself out; when she goes to her shrine to pray, it is to no avail.

Isa. 16:13 This is the word the LORD has already spoken concerning Moab.

Isa. 25:10 The hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain; but Moab will be trampled under him as straw is trampled down in the manure.

Jer. 9:26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart."

Jer. 25:21 Edom, Moab and Ammon;

Jer. 27:3 Then send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

Jer. 40:11 When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom and all the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor over them,

Jer. 48:1 Concerning Moab: This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined. Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured; the stronghold will be disgraced and shattered.

Jer. 48:2 Moab will be praised no more; in Heshbon men will plot her downfall: Come, let us put an end to that nation.' You too, O Madmen, will be silenced; the sword will pursue you.

Jer. 48:4 Moab will be broken; her little ones will cry out.

Jer. 48:9 Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste ; her towns will become desolate, with no one to live in them.

Jer. 48:11 "Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another - she has not gone into exile. So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged.

Jer. 48:13 Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.

Jer. 48:15 Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded; her finest young men will go down in the slaughter," declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.

Jer. 48:16 "The fall of Moab is at hand; her calamity will come quickly.

Jer. 48:18 "Come down from your glory and sit on the parched ground, O inhabitants of the Daughter of Dibon, for he who destroys Moab will come up against you and ruin your fortified cities.

Jer. 48:20 Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered. Wail and cry out! Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed.

Jer. 48:24 to Kerioth and Bozrah - to all the towns of Moab, far and near.

Jer. 48:26 "Make her drunk, for she has defied the LORD. Let Moab wallow in her vomit; let her be an object of ridicule.

Jer. 48:28 Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks, you who live in Moab. Be like a dove that makes its nest at the mouth of a cave.

Jer. 48:31 Therefore I wail over Moab, for all Moab I cry out, I moan for the men of Kir Hareseth.

Jer. 48:33 Joy and gladness are gone from the orchards and fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy. Although there are shouts, they are not shouts of joy.

Jer. 48:35 In Moab I will put an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods," declares the LORD.

Jer. 48:36 "So my heart laments for Moab like a flute; it laments like a flute for the men of Kir Hareseth. The wealth they acquired is gone.

Jer. 48:38 On all the roofs in Moab and in the public squares there is nothing but mourning, for I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants," declares the LORD.

Jer. 48:39 "How shattered she is! How they wail! How Moab turns her back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule, an object of horror to all those around her."

Jer. 48:40 This is what the LORD says: "Look! An eagle is swooping down, spreading its wings over Moab.

Jer. 48:42 Moab will be destroyed as a nation because she defied the LORD.

Jer. 48:43 Terror and pit and snare await you, O people of Moab," declares the LORD.

Jer. 48:44 "Whoever flees from the terror will fall into a pit, whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare; for I will bring upon Moab the year of her punishment," declares the LORD.

Jer. 48:45 "In the shadow of Heshbon the fugitives stand helpless, for a fire has gone out from Heshbon, a blaze from the midst of Sihon; it burns the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of the noisy boasters.

Jer. 48:46 Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are destroyed; your sons are taken into exile and your daughters into captivity.

Jer. 48:47 "Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come," declares the LORD. Here ends the judgment on Moab.

Ezek. 25:8 "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: ¬Because Moab and Seir said, "Look, the house of Judah has become like all the other nations,"

Ezek. 25:9 therefore I will expose the flank of Moab, beginning at its frontier towns - Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon and Kiriathaim - the glory of that land.

Ezek. 25:10 I will give Moab along with the Ammonites to the people of the East as a possession, so that the Ammonites will not be remembered among the nations;

Ezek. 25:11 and I will inflict punishment on Moab. Then they will know that I am the LORD.' "

Dan. 11:41 He will also invade the Beautiful Land. Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand.

Amos 2:1 This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Moab, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. Because he burned, as if to lime, the bones of Edom's king,

Amos 2:2 I will send fire upon Moab that will consume the fortresses of Kerioth. Moab will go down in great tumult amid war cries and the blast of the trumpet.

Micah 6:5 My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD."

Zeph. 2:8 "I have heard the insults of Moab and the taunts of the Ammonites, who insulted my people and made threats against their land.

Zeph. 2:9 Therefore, as surely as I live," declares the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, surely Moab will become like Sodom, the Ammonites like Gomorrah - a place of weeds and salt pits, a wasteland forever. The remnant of my people will plunder them; the survivors of my nation will inherit their land."

If you can provide us further details, please email us at info@moab-utah.comBack to Top

Back to Moab Information Site!
See Moab Internet
All contents of this page - Copyright 2000-2002 Moab Internet.
There have been Hit Counter visitors to this page since May 1, 2002.