According to Cheyne and Black, its Hebrew meaning is "'Those-on-the-other-side'—i.e., of the Jordan."[3] The Vulgate (Deuteronomy 32:49) gives its etymological meaning as passages.[4] Its northern part was called Pisgah, and the highest peak of Pisgah was Mount Nebo (Numbers 23:14; 27:12; 21:20; 32:47; Deuteronomy 3:27; 34:1; 32:49).
These mountains are mentioned several times in the Bible:
From "the top of Pisgah" i.e. Mount Nebo, an area which belonged to Moab, Moses surveyed the Promised Land (Numbers 27:12 and Deuteronomy 3:27; 32:49), and there he died (34:1,5)
The Israelites had one of their encampments in the mountains of Abarim (Numbers 33:47,48) after crossing the Arnon
The prophet Jeremiah linked it with Bashan and Lebanon as locations from which the people cried in vain to God for rescue (Jeremiah 22:20)
^According to the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), the Hebrew Avarim appears in both the phrase har Ha-Avarim "mountain Abarim," and harei Ha-Avarim, "mountains of Abarim."
^According to the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), the Septuagint (Greek) equivalent is to oros to Abarim, and en to peran tou Iordanou. Cheyne and Black's Encyclopaedia Biblica (1899) gives alternate spellings Abarin and Abareim, and discusses its Septuagint equivalents involving the word peran in somewhat greater detail.
^Cheyne and Black (1899), Encyclopaedia Biblica, "Abarim."
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Abarim". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Abarim". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
