Moab, Moabite, Moabites
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(offspring of the father) (Num. 22:1, 33:48, 50)—a country situated east of the Dead Sea, on both sides of the river Arnon. The inhabitants of this country were called Moabites, after the name of Moab, son of Lot by his elder daughter. Moab was the ancestor of the Moabites (Gen. 19:30–37). The Moabites were severely punished for their ill treatment of the Israelites (Deut. 23:3–6, Judg. 3:12–30, 2 Sam. 8:2). They were given over to idolatry, for which reason some of the prophets addressed them with rebukes and prophecies (Is. 15, 16, Jer. 48).
The land of Moab in ancient times was apparently very fertile, but at present it is a wild wilderness, through which only nomadic Arabs pass from time to time. The fall of Moab was precisely foretold by the prophet Zephaniah: “Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation” (Zeph. 2:9). All the most recent travelers unanimously testify that this ancient prophecy has been fulfilled in full force in the history of the fate of the land of Moab.