Hebrew word · H6144

עָר

'ar

Ar

A Moabite place name, linked to the Arnon (Num 21:15, 'the seat of Ar'). It stands for Moab itself in Deut 2:9, 18, 29 and is paired with Kir of Moab in Isa 15:1. It may be related to ʿîr, 'city,' so it might once have meant something like 'the City.'

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Ar = "a city"

a city of Moab located south of the Arnon river; perhaps the capital

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 21:28

Range of meaning

A Moabite place name, linked to the Arnon (Num 21:15, 'the seat of Ar'). It stands for Moab itself in Deut 2:9, 18, 29 and is paired with Kir of Moab in Isa 15:1. It may be related to ʿîr, 'city,' so it might once have meant something like 'the City.'

Against the English

All the major English versions keep 'Ar of Moab.'

Used elsewhere in the period

Its site is unknown. Deuteronomy 2 treats Ar as land God gave to Moab and Israel did not take, which suggests it lay at or south of the Arnon. The Septuagint here reads 'as far as Moab' (heōs Mōab), from Hebrew ʿad, which is nearly identical in script.

Where it appears

Numbers · 2

  1. Numbers 21:15 עָ֑ר Ar

    even the slopes of the wadis that extend to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab.”

  2. Numbers 21:28 עָ֣ר Ar

    For a fire went out from Heshbon, a blaze from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the rulers of Arnon’s heights.

    Here: Ar, a leading Moabite town or district near the Arnon (Num 21:15; Deut 2:9; Isa 15:1). Its exact site is unknown. The Greek translators read ʿad, 'as far as,' here instead.

Deuteronomy · 3

  1. Deuteronomy 2:9 עָ֖ר Ar

    Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”

    Here: A main city or district of Moab, near its northern border on the Arnon gorge. Here it probably stands for Moab's land as a whole, a part naming the whole.

  2. Deuteronomy 2:18 עָֽר׃ Ar

    “Today you are going to cross the border of Moab at Ar.

  3. Deuteronomy 2:29 בְּעָ֑ר in Ar

    just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving us.”

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 15:1 עָ֤ר Ar

    This is the burden against Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night!

    Here: A major Moabite center, apparently near the Arnon gorge in the north (Num 21:15, 28; Deut 2:9). Its name may simply mean "city", a dialect form of Hebrew ʿir. Its exact location is uncertain.

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