Nebo

From BibleEncyclopedia.Net

Proclaimer; prophet.

(1.) A Chaldean god whose worship was introduced into Assyria by Pul (Isa_46:1; Jer_48:1). To this idol was dedicated the great temple whose ruins are still seen at Birs Nimrud. A statue of Nebo found at Calah, where it was set up by Pul, king of Assyria, is now in the British Museum.

(2.) A mountain in the land of Moab from which Moses looked for the first and the last time on the Promised Land (Deu_32:49; Deu_34:1). It has been identified with Jebel Nebah, on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, near its northern end, and about 5 miles south-west of Heshbon. It was the summit of the ridge of Pisgah (q.v.), which was a part of the range of the “mountains of Abarim.” It is about 2,643 feet in height, but from its position it commands a view of Western Palestine. Close below it are the plains of Moab, where Balaam, and afterwards Moses, saw the tents of Israel spread along.

(3.) A town on the east of Jordan which was taken possession of and rebuilt by the tribe of Reuben (Num_32:3, Num_32:38; 1Ch_5:8). It was about 8 miles south of Heshbon.

(4.) The “children of Nebo” (Ezr_2:29; Neh_7:33) were of those who returned from Babylon. It was a town in Benjamin, probably the modern Beit Nubah, about 7 miles north-west of Hebron.

Nebo (1)

nē´bō (נבו, nebhō; Assyrian Nabu):

The Babylonian god of literature and science. In the Babylonian mythology he is represented as the son and interpreter of Bel-merodach (compare Isa_46:1; Bel and Nebo there represent Babylon). His own special shrine was at Borsippo. His planet was Mercury. His name enters into Biblical names, as “Nebuchadnezzar,” and perhaps “Abed-nego” (Dan_1:7, for “Abed-nebo, servant of Nebo”).

See Religion Of Babylonia And Assyria.

Nebo (2)

(נבו, nebhō; Ναβαῦ, Nabaú):

(1) This town is named in Num_32:3 between Sebam and Beon (which latter evidently represents Baal-meon of Num_32:38), after Heshbon and Elealeh, as among the cities assigned by Moses to Reuben. It was occupied by the Reubenite clan Bela (1Ch_5:8). Here it is named between Aroer and Baalmeon. In their denunciations of wrath against Moab, Isaiah names it along with Medeba (Isa_15:2) and Jeremiah with Kiriathaim (Jer_48:1), and again (Jer_48:22) between Dibon and Beth-diblathaim. Mesha (M S) says that by command of Chemosh he went by night against the city, captured it after an assault that lasted from dawn till noon, and put all the inhabitants to death. He dedicated the place to Ashtar-chemosh. Jerome (Commentary on Isa_15:2) tells us that at Nebo was the idol of Chemosh. The site which seems best to meet the requirements of the passages indicated is on the ridge of Jebel Nebā to the Southwest of Ḥesbān, where ruins of an ancient town bearing the name of en-Nebā are found (Buhl, GAP, 266).

(2) (נבו, nebhō; B, Ναβοῦ, Naboú A, Ναβώ, Nabṓ, and other forms): Fifty-two descendants of the inhabitants of Nebo returned from exile with Zerubbabel (Ezr_2:29; Neh_7:33). The place was in Judah and is named after Bethel and Ai. There is nothing, however, to guide us as to its exact position. It may be represented by either Belt Nuba, 12 miles Northwest of Jerusalem, or Nuba, which lies about 4 miles South-Southeast of ‛Id el-Mā' (Adullam).