Heshbon

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

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’ (Jos 9:10; comp. Num 21:26; Deu 2:30). It was taken by Moses (Num 21:23-26), and eventually became a Levitical city (Jos 21:39; 1Ch 6:81) in the tribe of Reuben (Num 32:37; Jos 13:17); but being on the confines of Gad, is sometimes assigned to the latter tribe (Jos 21:39; 1Ch 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 (Isa 15:4; Jer 48:2; Jer 48:34; Jer 48:45). 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.

A celebrated city of the Amorites, twenty miles east of the mouth of the Jordan, Jos 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, Num 21:25 ; Jos 21:39 . After the ten tribes were transplanted into the country beyond the Euphrates, the Moabites recovered it, Isa 15:4 ; Jer 48:2,34,45 . Its ruins are still called Hesban, and cover the sides of a hill seven miles north of Medeba.\par

Hesh’bon. (stronghold). The capital city of Sihon, king of the Amorites. Num 21:26. It stood on the western border of the high plain -- Mishor, Jos 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 Son 7:4.

The Amorite king Sihon’s capital (Num 21:26, etc.). On the western border of the "high plain", mishor (Jos 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 (Deu 2:32-33). Heshbon was rebuilt by Reuben (Num 32:37), but assigned to the Levites in connection with Gad (Jos 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 (Isa 15:4) and Jeremiah’s (Jer 48:2-34; Jer 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 Son 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.

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, Num 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. Num 32:3; Num 32:37; Deu 1:4; Deu 2:24-30; Deu 3:2; Deu 3:6; Deu 4:46; Deu 29:7; Jos 9:10; Jos 12:2; Jos 12:5; Jos 13:10-27; Jos 21:39; Jdg 11:19; Jdg 11:26; 1Ch 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. Isa 15:4; Isa 16:8-9; Jer 48:2; Jer 48:34; Jer 48:45; Jer 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 Son 7:4.

[Hesh’bon]

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. Num 21:25-34; Deu 2:24-30; Jos 13:17-27; 1Ch 6:81. After the captivity it fell into the hands of the Moabites; and is denounced in the prophets. Isa 15:4; Jer 48:2; Jer 48:34; Jer 48:45; Jer 49:3. Identified with Hesban, 31° 48’ N, 35° 48’ E. There are extensive ruins showing its former strength as a fortified city.

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By: Emil G. Hirsch, Max Schloessinger

Town originally belonging to Moab; mentioned in Num. xxi. 25 et seq.; Deut. i. 4, iii. 6, iv. 26, xxix. 7; Josh. ix. 10; xii. 2 et seq.; xiii. 10, 21; Isa. xv. 4; xvi. 8, 9; Jer. xlviii. 2; Cant. vii. 5 (A. V. 4); Judith v. 15; by Josephus ("Ant." xii. 4, § 11; xiii. 15, § 4; xv. 8, § 5; "B. J." ii. 18, § 1; iii. 3, § 3), and in the "Onomastica Sacra" (117, 29 et seq., 253, 24 et seq.). Heshbon, at one time the chief city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, was, when captured by the Israelites, assigned to the tribe of Reuben (Num. xxxii. 3, 37; Josh. xiii. 10, 17, 21). However, the hold of the Israelites upon the territory of Moab was very insecure. It became a Jewish possession in the time of Alexander Jannæus (Josephus, "Ant." xiii. 15, § 4). Jerome mentions Heshbon, under the name "Esbus," as "a notable city of Arabia in the mountains in front of Jericho, twenty Roman miles from the Jordan." Heshbon is mentioned also in the Talmud (Yer. Shebu. vi. 1; see Neubauer, "G. T." pp. 11, 21). At the modern Haṣban, in the Wadi Haṣban, are found remains of a castle, temple, and large reservoir; to the last Cant. vii. 5 (A. V. 4) compares the eyes of the bride of Solomon.

Bibliography:

Hastings, Dict. Bible;

Cheyne and Black, Encyc. Bibl.;

Hamburger, R. B. T.;

Reland, Palestina ex Monumentis Veteribus Illustrata;

Tristram, Land of Moab, p. 340;

Buhl, Geographie des Alten Palästina, p. 123.

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 (Jos 13:17), Heshbon appears in the OT most frequently as being, or having been, the capital of Sihon (wh. see), king of the Amorites (Deu 2:26 and often), or, like many other towns in this neighbourhood, in the actual possession of the Moahites (Isa 15:4; Isa 16:8 f., Jer 48:2; Jer 48:34 f.), to whom, according to Num 21:26, it had belonged before Sihon captured it. Jer 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 Son 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.

hesh´bon (חשׁבּון, ḥeshbōn; Ἑσεβών, Hesebō̇n): The royal city of Sihon king of the Amorites, taken and occupied by the Israelites under Moses (Num 21:25 f, etc.). It lay on the southern border of Gad (Jos 13:26), and was one of the cities fortified by Reuben (Num 32:37). It is reckoned among the cities of Gad given to the Merarite Levites (Jos 21:39). In later literature (Isa 15:4; Isa 16:8 f; Jer 48:2, Jer 48:34, Jer 48:45; Jer 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 (Son 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).

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 (Num 21:25-26; Deu 3:2). When the conquered territories were divided among Israel’s tribes, Heshbon fell within the tribal area of Reuben (Num 32:2-5; Num 32:37; Jos 13:15-21; Jdg 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 (Isa 15:1; Isa 15:4; Isa 16:8; Jer 48:1-2; Jer 48:45; Jer 49:3).