Page 45 - Advanced Biblical Backgrounds Revised

Many have heard of the cities of Tyre and Sidon, but few are aware that they were prominent
Phoenician cities. Phoenicia grew in power and extended south. The might of the Philistines halted their
military growth in that direction.

Edomites:
In the Bible, these people are the descendants of Esau. Edom was located southeast of the Jordan and
the land of Canaan. The most prominent city in Edom, its capital city, was Mount Sier. Edom bordered
the Dead Sea. It also bordered the Gulf of Aqaba. Because of this, it was on one of the major trade
routes and would have had an economic benefit from that. David defeated them in battle. Edom is
known for many negative encounters with Israelites. In Numbers 20, they refused to let Israel pass
through their land on the way to Canaan. This resulted in a battle. We also know that they joined
Nebuchadnezzar when he attacked Jerusalem (see Psalm 137:7-8). The Prophet Ezekiel prophecies their
destruction in Ezekiel 25 and 35.

Moabites:
Moab was the son of Abraham’s nephew Lot. His descendants settled east of the Jordan river as well.
The eastern boundary of Moab was Arnon (Judges 11:17-19). Ruth was a Moabitess. The disdain of the
Israelites for her is clear. It was to be expected as there was a history of bloodshed between these
peoples. Intermarriage was forbidden with non-Israelites. This was partially due to the impact of pagan
idol worship on the people of God. The Moabites, for instance, worshiped Chemosh (Numbers 21:29,
Judges 11:24-25). All of this is true, but Ruth was to be in the lineage of Jesus. This is a clear
demonstration that God does not hold ethnicity or past enmity against the repentant.

Ammonites:
The Encyclopedia Britannica explains that an Ammonite was “any member of an ancient Semitic people
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whose principal city was Rabbath Ammon, in Palestine.” The peoples east of the Jordan River were
Edom in the southeast. Just north of Edom was Moab. To the north of that was Ammon. These three
peoples fell to the Jews during the conquest of Canaan. The primary deity of Moab was Malcam, better
known as Molech. Molech was the deity that demanded child sacrifice by fire as a part of the required
worship. Yahweh is clear that it is a forbidden and unwanted practice (Leviticus 18:21, 20:30,
Deuteronomy 12:30-31, and 18:10). Israel kept falling into these practices, and Yahweh judged them for
it. Psalm 106:33-38 makes this clear:

“They did not destroy the peoples, as the LORD commanded them, but they mixed with the
nations and learned to do as they did. They served their idols, which became a snare to them.
They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land
was polluted with blood.” (ESV)

The king of the Ammonites was the one Jephthah defeated in battle in Judges 11. It was against this king
that he made his famous rash vow to God. Some have said that Jephthah had to fulfill his vow because
he had made it. This is clearly not accurate, as Leviticus 5:4-13 made it clear that there was a provision
for sacrifices in which God would release a person from a rashly made vow. The problem was that
Jephthah was not raised among Yahweh-fearing Israelites. His view of God was more informed by
Canaanite deities than the Torah. As a result of not knowing the true nature of Yahweh, he followed

85 “Ammonite” in The Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ammonite

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