Hebrew word · H5682

עֲבָרִים

ha'avarim

Abarim

The plural of ʿever, 'region across, the other side', from ʿavar, 'to cross over'. It means 'the regions beyond'. Taken as a name, it covers the highland ridge that drops from the Moabite plateau down toward the Dead Sea and the Jordan valley.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Abarim = "regions beyond"

a mountain or range of mountains on the east of the Jordan, in the land of Moab, opposite to Jericho; Mount Nebo is part of this range

Another name of ne.vo (נְבוֹ "(Mount )Nebo" H5015H)

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 Numbers 33:47

Range of meaning

The plural of ʿever, 'region across, the other side', from ʿavar, 'to cross over'. It means 'the regions beyond'. Taken as a name, it covers the highland ridge that drops from the Moabite plateau down toward the Dead Sea and the Jordan valley.

Against the English

All English versions transliterate it as 'Abarim', so the meaning disappears. A reader would not know that the name describes the place as 'over there', on the far side of the river.

Used elsewhere in the period

Num 27:12 ('Go up this mountain of the Abarim and see the land'); Deut 32:49 ('this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo'); Num 21:11 and 33:44 (Iye-abarim, 'ruins of the Abarim'); Jer 22:20 (Abarim alongside Lebanon and Bashan).

Similar words

Where it appears

Numbers · 3

  1. Numbers 27:12 הָעֲבָרִ֖ים the Abarim

    Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range and see the land that I have given the Israelites.

  2. Numbers 33:47 הָעֲבָרִ֖ים the Abarim

    They set out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim facing Nebo.

    Here: 'The Abarim', with the definite article, which shows the name was still understood as a description: 'the across-places', meaning the heights on the far side of the Jordan as seen from Canaan.

  3. Numbers 33:48 הָעֲבָרִ֑ים the Abarim

    They set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 32:49 הָעֲבָרִ֨ים the Abarim

    “Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo, in the land of Moab across from Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites as their own possession.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 22:20 מֵֽעֲבָרִ֔ים from Abarim

    Go up to Lebanon and cry out; raise your voice in Bashan; cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers have been crushed.

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