Hebrew word · H3645

כְּמוֹשׁ

kemoosh

Chemosh

The chief god of Moab. Moabites are called 'the people of Chemosh' (Num 21:29). He is named on the Mesha Stele (c. 840 BC) and in Moabite personal names (e.g. Kemoshyat). Solomon built him a shrine (1 Kgs 11:7), which Josiah later defiled (2 Kgs 23:13).

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Chemosh = "subduer"

the national deity of the Moabites and a god of the Ammonites

also identified with 'Baal-peor', 'Baal-zebub', 'Mars' and 'Saturn'

1b) worship of this god was introduced into Jerusalem by Solomon and abolished by king Josiah of Judah

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Jeremiah 48:7

Range of meaning

The chief god of Moab. Moabites are called 'the people of Chemosh' (Num 21:29). He is named on the Mesha Stele (c. 840 BC) and in Moabite personal names (e.g. Kemoshyat). Solomon built him a shrine (1 Kgs 11:7), which Josiah later defiled (2 Kgs 23:13).

Against the English

No translation problem. Modern readers simply may not know that Chemosh was Moab's national patron, believed to fight for it and to decide its fortunes.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Mesha Stele, King Mesha says Israel's Omri had oppressed Moab 'because Chemosh was angry with his land', and that Chemosh then 'restored' it and drove Israel out. Mesha boasts of dragging the vessels of YHWH from Nebo 'before Chemosh'. Jeremiah 48:46 quotes Num 21:29: 'Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished.'

From the study of 1 Kings 11:7

Range of meaning

Proper name of the chief god of Moab. Moabites are called 'the people of Chemosh' (Num 21:29; Jer 48:46), just as Israel is the people of YHWH. Jephthah's speech in Judges 11:24 treats Chemosh as the god who gives land to his people, as YHWH gives land to Israel.

Against the English

All versions transliterate it. The difference lies in the label next to it: 'abomination' (KJV/BSB) or 'detestable god' (NIV/NLT).

Used elsewhere in the period

The Mesha Stele (about 840 BC) is the main source outside the Bible. In it Kemosh is angry with his land and lets Israel's king Omri oppress Moab; later he drives Israel out, and Mesha devotes captured Israelite towns to him, including 'the vessels of YHWH'. A god Ashtar-Kemosh also appears. The name turns up in Moabite personal names (Kemoshyat, Kemosh-nadab).

Where it appears

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 21:29 כְּמ֑וֹשׁ Chemosh

    Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 11:24 כְּמ֥וֹשׁ Chemosh

    Do you not possess whatever your god Chemosh grants you? So also, we possess whatever the LORD our God has granted us.

1 Kings · 2

  1. 1 Kings 11:7 לִכְמוֹשׁ֙ for Chemosh

    At that time on a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites.

    Here: Chemosh (Kemosh) was the national god of Moab, the kingdom east of the Dead Sea. The shrine was dedicated to him.

  2. 1 Kings 11:33 לִכְמוֹשׁ֙ to Chemosh

    For they have forsaken Me to worship Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. They have not walked in My ways, nor done what is right in My eyes, nor kept My statutes and judgments, as Solomon’s father David did.

    Here: 'To Chemosh': the national god of Moab, east of the Dead Sea. He is well known from the Moabite king Mesha's inscription.

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 23:13 וְלִכְמוֹשׁ֙ and to Chemosh

    The king also desecrated the high places east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

    Here: The national god of Moab, east of the Dead Sea. King Mesha's 9th-century inscription credits Chemosh with Moab's victories over Israel.

Jeremiah · 3

  1. Jeremiah 48:7 כְמוֹשׁ֙ Chemosh

    Because you trust in your works and treasures, you too will be captured, and Chemosh will go into exile with his priests and officials.

    Here: Moab's national god (Num 21:29; 1 Kgs 11:7). It is the god himself, meaning his statue, who is pictured walking off as a prisoner.

  2. Jeremiah 48:13 מִכְּמ֑וֹשׁ from Chemosh

    Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, just as the house of Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.

  3. Jeremiah 48:46 כְּמ֑וֹשׁ Chemosh

    Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished; for your sons have been taken into exile and your daughters have gone into captivity.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.