Pisgah

A mountain over against Jericho. This place is rendered memorable from Moses. (Deut. 34. 1.) The name means hill or mountain, from Pasag.

a part of Mount Nebo, so called, being, in all probability, a distinct, and most likely the highest, summit of that mountain. Here Moses climbed to view the land of Canaan; and here he died.

Pis´gah, a mountain ridge in the land of Moab, on the southern border of the kingdom of Sihon (Num 21:20; Num 23:14; Deu 3:27; Jos 12:3). In it was Mount Nebo, from which Moses viewed the Promised Land before he died (Deu 34:1) [NEBO].

A mountain ridge, the northern part of the Abarim range, east of the Dead Sea; Nebo was one of its summits, Deu 32:49 34:1. It was in the southern part of the kingdom of Sihon, Num 21:20 23:24; and afterwards belonged to the Reubenites, Jos 12:3 13:20.\par

Pis’gah. (section, that is, peak). Num 21:20; Num_ 23:14; Deu 3:27; Deu 34:1. A mountain range or district, the same as, or a part of, that called "the mountains of Abarim". Compare Deu 32:49 with Deu 34:1. It lay on the east of Jordan, contiguous to the field of Moab, and immediately opposite Jericho. Its highest point or summit -- its "head" -- was Mount Nebo. See Nebo, Mount.

A ridge of the Abarim mountains W. from Heshbon. Nebo was a town on, or near, that ridge, lying on its western slope (Num 21:20; Num 32:3; Num 32:38; Deu 32:49; Deu 34:1). From Pisgah, Israel gained their first view of the Dead Sea and Jordan valley; hence Moses too viewed the land of promise. The correct designation for the mount is not "Nebo" (which has become usual for convenience sake) but "the mountain adjoining Nebo." In Scripture Nebo denotes only the town (Isa 15:2; Jer 48:1-22). The uniform peakless nature of Pisgah caused its parts to be distinguished only by the names of the adjacent villages. It always has the article "THE Pisgah" E. of Jordan, near "the field of Moab, opposite Jericho." The field of Zophim was on it Ashsoth-Pisgah; Deu 3:17. (See ASHDOTH-PISGAH.)

Pisgah is derived from paasag "to divide," a detached range of Abarim. Tristram from a point about 4,500 ft. high, three miles S.W. of Heshbon and one and a half W. of Main, saw to the N. and E. the Gilead hills, and the vast Belka ocean of grain and grass; to the S., Her and Seir of Arabia; to the W., the Dead Sea and Jordan valley and the familiar objects near Jerusalem; and over Jordan, Gerizim’s round top, and further the Esdraelon plain and the shoulder of Carmel; to the N. rose Tabor’s outline, Gilboa and little Hermon (jebel Duhy); in front rose Ajlun’s dark forests, ending in Mount Gilead, behind Es Salt (Ramoth Gilead) The name Pisgah survives only on the N.W. end of the Dead Sea, in the Ras el Feshkah (Hebrew: Rosh ha-Pisgah, "top of Pisgah"). Jebel Siugah ("fragment") probably answers to Pisgah. It is "over against Jericho," and the view corresponds. It is a fragment cut off by declivities on all sides, and separated from Nebo by the wady Haisa.

Pisgah (pĭz’gah), hill, or the height. The summit from which Moses, before his death, gained his view of the promised land. Peor was a peak near it. It was in Moab, one of the mountains of Abarim, and the top of Nebo. It was in the territory afterward assigned to Reuben, and thus was north of the Arnon. Num 21:20; Deu 3:27; Deu 4:49; Deu 34:1; Jos 13:20. Pisgah had cultivated land. Balak brought Balaam "into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah," and there "built seven altars." Num 23:14.

[Pis’gah]

Mountain on the east of the Jordan. Balaam offered sacrifices there, and it was the spot from which Moses viewed the promised land, and near to which he died. It was associated with Nebo (q.v. ), and was said to be ’over against Jericho.’ Num 21:20; Num 23:14; Deu 3:27; Deu 4:49; Deu 34:1. The peak called Ras Siaghah, 31° 46’ N, 35° 43’ E, is probably the site.

(always with the article: Ha-Pisgah):

By: Executive Committee of the Editorial Board., J. F. McLaughlin

Mountain in Moab, celebrated as one of the stations of the Israelites in their journey through that country (Num. xxi. 20) and as the place of one of Balak's sacrifices (ib. xxiii. 14), but chiefly as the place of Moses' death after he had beheld from its summit "all the land of Gilead, unto Dan; and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the hinder [western] sea; and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm-trees, unto Zoar" (Deut. xxxiv. 1-2, R. V.). It is identified (ib. xxxiv. 1) with Mount Nebo; and in Num. xxiii. 14 the "field of Zophim" is the "top of Pisgah." Under the "slopes of Pisgah" was the "sea of the Arabah" or Dead Sea (Deut. iii. 17, iv. 49; Josh. xii. 3, xiii. 20, R. V.).

Pisgah has been identified also with the modern Naba, a ridge which projects westward from the plateau of Moab, near the northeastern end of the Dead Sea, about five miles southwest of Heshbon, and 2,643 feet above the Mediterranean and 3,935 feet above the Dead Sea. It is described by G. A. Smith ("Historical Geography of the Holy Land," p. 563) as about two miles long, with a level top about one-half mile broad. "It is of flinty limestone, mostly barren." It commands an extensive view of the whole of western Palestine. There are two summits: the higher, Ras Naba; the lower and outermost, Ras Siyaghah. The latter commands the whole of the Jordan valley and is probably identical with the "top of Pisgah which looketh down upon Jeshimon" (Num. xxi. 20, R. V., margin).

The name "Pisgah" has not survived till modern times, unless in "Ras Fashkah," a headland on the opposite or western side of the Dead Sea. It is said to have been still used, however, in the time of Eusebius (in the form Φασγώ; comp. LXX. Φασγά, Φασχά) for a district in that region (Eusebius, "Onomasticon," ed. Lagarde, pp. 124-125, 237).

Bibliography:

G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land, pp. 562-566;

Tristram, Land of Moab, pp. 339-340;

Survey of Eastern Palestine, pp. 154-156, 198-203;

Conder, Heth and Moab, 3d ed., pp. 132 et seq.;

Driver, Commentary on Deuteronomy (xxxiv. 1).

PISGAH.—A mountain in the region of Moab, with a commanding view over both the desert (Num 21:20) and Western Palestine. Hither the Israelites journeyed from Bamoth, and there took place the extraordinary episode of Balaam, who on the top of Pisgah built seven altars (Num 23:14). Its principal distinction, however, is its being the scene of Moses’ vision of the Promised Land (Deu 3:27; Deu 34:1) and of his death. It fell into the territory of Reuben (Jos 13:20 [AV [Note: Authorized Version.] Ashdoth-pisgah, as in Jos 12:3 and Deu 3:17; RV [Note: Revised Version.] in all three ‘slopes (mg. ‘springs’) or Pisgah’]).

An alternative name for Pisgah is Neho (wh. see), referred to in Deu 32:49 as the scene of the death of Moses. The latter name is preserved by Jebel Nebâ, a range whose summit reaches a height of 2643 feet and commands a view of a large part of Western Palestine. It is 5 miles S.W. of Heshbon, and runs westward from the Moabite plateau.

R. A. S. Macalister.

piz´ga (הפּסגּה, ha-piṣgāh; Φασγά, Phasgá, τὸ λελαξευμένον, tó lelaxeuménon, ἡ λαξευτή, hē laxeutḗ): This name, which has always the definite article, appears only in combination either with rō’sh, “head,” “top,” or ’ashdōth, not translated in the King James Version save in Deu 4:49, where it is rendered “springs” the Revised Version (British and American) uniformly “slopes,” the Revised Version margin “springs.”

Pisgah is identified with Nebo in Deu 34:1; compare Deu 3:27. “The top of Pisgah, which looketh down upon the desert” marks a stage in the march of the host of Israel (Num 21:20). Hither Balak brought Balaam to the field of Zophim (Num 23:14). Here Moses obtained his view of the Promised Land, and died. See NEBO. Many scholars (e.g. Buhl, GAP, 122; Gray, “Numbers,” ICC, 291) take Pisgah as the name applying to the mountain range in which the Moab plateau terminates to the West, the “top” or “head” of Pisgah being the point in which the ridge running out westward from the main mass culminates. The summit commands a wide view, and looks down upon the desert. The identification is made surer by the name Tal‛at eṣ-Ṣufa found here, which seems to correspond with the field of Zophim.

’Ashdōth is the construct plural of ’ashēdhāh (singular form not found), from ’eshedh, “foundation,” “bottom,” “lower part” (slope); compare Assyrian ishdu, “foundation.” Some would, derive it from Aramaic’ashadh, “to pour,” whence “fall” or “slope” (OHL, under the word). Ashdoth-pisgah overlooked the Dead Sea from the East (Deu 3:17; Deu 4:49; Jos 12:3; Jos 13:20). There can be no reasonable doubt that Ashdoth-pisgah signifies the steep slopes of the mountain descending into the contiguous valleys.

It is worthy of note that Septuagint does not uniformly render Pisgah by a proper name, but sometimes by a derivative of laxeúō, “to hew” or “to dress stone” (Num 21:20; Num 23:14; Deu 3:27; Deu 4:49). Jerome (Onomasticon, under the word Asedoth) gives abscisum as the Latin equivalent of Fasga. He derives Pisgah from pāṣagh, which, in new Hebrew, means “to split,” “to cut off.” This suggests a mountain the steep sides of which give it the appearance of having been “cut out.” This description applies perfectly to Jebel Nebā as viewed from the Dead Sea.

It seems that Pisgah is not the name of a particular locality, but an ordinary Hebrew word used for the peak of a hill or mountain. Usually it is a peak that gives a good view over the surrounding countryside (Num 21:20; Num 23:13-14). The most commonly known Pisgah is the peak of Mt Nebo in the Abarim Range east of Jordan. This was the peak from which Moses viewed the land of Canaan before he died (Deu 3:27; Deu 32:49; Deu 34:1; see ABARIM).