Hebrew word · H6449

פִּסְגָּה

hapisgah

Pisgah

The name of a ridge or headland in the Abarim range northeast of the Dead Sea. It always has the article ('the Pisgah'), which suggests it was first a description, perhaps 'the ridge' or 'the summit'. The derivation is uncertain.

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

What it means

§ Pisgah = "cleft"

mountain in Moab on the northeast shore of the Dead Sea; site uncertain

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 Deuteronomy 3:17

Range of meaning

The name of a ridge or headland in the Abarim range northeast of the Dead Sea. It always has the article ('the Pisgah'), which suggests it was first a description, perhaps 'the ridge' or 'the summit'. The derivation is uncertain.

Against the English

All English versions use 'Pisgah'. KJV merges it into 'Ashdoth-pisgah'.

Used elsewhere in the period

The 'top of the Pisgah' is where Balaam offered sacrifice (Num 23:14). It is also where Moses views the land (Deut 3:27; 34:1, where it is linked with Mount Nebo). The Septuagint renders it Phasga, and the Aramaic Targums use 'the height'.

From the study of Deuteronomy 34:1

Range of meaning

Used only as a geographical term in the Bible, nearly always with 'the', as in 'the top of the Pisgah' or 'the slopes of the Pisgah' (Deuteronomy 3:17, 4:49; Joshua 12:3). Lexicons tentatively connect it with a root meaning to split or cut, later attested in Hebrew and Aramaic, giving a sense such as 'ridge' or 'cleft height'. The derivation is not certain.

Against the English

English versions treat it as a simple proper name, and the NLT turns it into 'Pisgah Peak'. That reads smoothly, but it drops the 'the', which hints that the first hearers may have heard a description of a landform.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 21:20 places it on Israel's route and Numbers 23:14 says Balak took Balaam to its top to curse Israel. The Greek Septuagint sometimes translates the word instead of transliterating it, using a term meaning 'hewn' (Numbers 23:14, Deuteronomy 3:27), which suggests its translators heard a common noun. Here it uses the name Phasga.

Where it appears

Numbers · 2

  1. Numbers 21:20 הַפִּסְגָּ֑ה <the> Pisgah

    and from Bamoth to the valley in Moab where the top of Pisgah overlooks the wasteland.

  2. Numbers 23:14 הַפִּסְגָּ֑ה <the> Pisgah

    So Balak took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, where he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Deuteronomy · 4

  1. Deuteronomy 3:17 הַפִּסְגָּ֖ה <the> Pisgah

    The Jordan River in the Arabah bordered it from Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) with the slopes of Pisgah to the east.

    Here: A ridge or headland in the Abarim highlands northeast of the Dead Sea, linked with Mount Nebo. It always takes the article ('the Pisgah'), which suggests it began as a description, something like 'the ridge'. Moses later views the land from its top (3:27; 34:1).

  2. Deuteronomy 3:27 הַפִּסְגָּ֗ה <the> Pisgah

    Go to the top of Pisgah and look to the west and north and south and east. See the land with your own eyes, for you will not cross this Jordan.

  3. Deuteronomy 4:49 הַפִּסְגָּֽה׃ פ <the> Pisgah

    including all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan and as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.

  4. Deuteronomy 34:1 הַפִּסְגָּ֔ה <the> Pisgah

    Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which faces Jericho. And the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead as far as Dan,

    Here: The Pisgah, with the word 'the' attached, which suggests a description of the landform as much as a personal name. It is the exact spot God had named in Deuteronomy 3:27, where Moses was told he could look but not cross.

Joshua · 2

  1. Joshua 12:3 הַפִּסְגָּֽה׃ <the> Pisgah

    as well as the Arabah east of the Sea of Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), eastward through Beth-jeshimoth, and southward below the slopes of Pisgah.

    Here: A ridge on the western edge of the Moabite plateau, linked with Mount Nebo, from which Moses looked over the land (Deut 34:1). The definite article ('the Pisgah') suggests it was first a descriptive term for a ridge or headland.

  2. Joshua 13:20 הַפִּסְגָּ֖ה <the> Pisgah

    Beth-peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth—

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