AROER. - Three biblical localities.

1. A city on the southern border of the Amorite kingdom of Sihon, from which it was taken by the Israelites (Deut. 2:36; Josh. 12:2). Rebuilt by the Gadites (Num. 32:34), it was assigned to the tribe of Reuben (Josh. 13:9, 16; etc.). Mesha, king of Moab, took it from the Israelites and fortified it (Mesha Stele, line 26). It was situated on the banks of the Arnon and is identified with Tell 'Arā'ir, which preserves traces of ancient walls.

2. A border city of the tribe of Gad, opposite Rabbah (Josh. 13:16, 25; Judg. 11:26, 33) of the Ammonites, present-day 'Ammān. For its identification, Abel proposes Argān to the northwest of 'Ammān, or else Hirbet es-Safrah 7 km. to the east. The A. of II Sam. 24:5 is a matter of discussion.

3. A city of the tribe of Judah. Situated not far from Beersheba, it is identified with 'Arārah in the wādi of the same name. David sent gifts there after the victory over the Amalekites (I Sam. 30:28).

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: D. Zanechia, La Palestina d'oggi, Rome 1896, p. 74; A. Musil, Arabia Petraea, I: Moab, Vienna 1907, p. 330 ff.; F.-M. Abel, Géographie de la Palestine, II, Paris 1938, pp. 69-70; R. Glueck, Explorations in Eastern Palestine, III, in Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 19 (1939), pp. 245-249.

Bonaventura Mariani

@incollection{ec2_aroer, author = {Mariani, Bonaventura}, title = {Aroer}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {II}, pages = {10}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/aroer} }

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