Kir-Hareseth; Kir-Heres

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kûr-har´ḗ-seth, -ha-rē´seth (קיר־חרשׂת, ḳīr-ḥăresh, Isaiah 16:7; in 2Ki_3:25 the King James Version reads Kir-Haraseth (pausal form)); (קיר חרשׂ, ḳīr ḥeres, Jeremiah 48:31, Jeremiah 48:36; in Isaiah 16:11 the King James Version reads Kir-Haresh (pausal form)):

Modern scholars unanimously identify this city with Kir of Moab. In Jehoram's invasion of Moab it alone withstood his attack; and on the city wall the king of Moab sacrificed his son (2 Kings 3:25 ff). It was obviously the capital, i.e. Kir Moab. The name is generally taken to mean “city of the sun.” Cheyne, however, points out (EB, under the word):

(1) that this explanation was unknown to the ancients;

(2) that”kir” is nowhere suposed to mean “city,” except in the compound names Ḳir-ḥeres, Ḳir-ḥareseth, and Ḳir Moab;

(3) that ḥeres, “sun,” nowhere has a feminine ending, and

(4) that Isaiah 16:7 (Septuagint and Aquila.) indicates d and not r in the second part of the name (Δέσεθ, Déseth). He suggests, therefore, that we should possibly read קרית הדשׁה, ḳiryath ḥădhāshāh, “new city.”