HESHBON (Hebrew: Heshbōn; Septuagint: Ἐσβοῦς). - A locality 12 km from Madaba in a northerly direction, in eastern Jordan. The capital of the Amorite kingdom of Sihon, it was occupied by the Hebrews (Num. 21:25-34) and repopulated by the tribe of Reuben after the extermination (Num. 32:3, 37). Being situated on the border of Gad (v.), it was taken by the latter tribe and assigned to the Levites (Josh. 21:37; 1 Chron. 6:81). In the times of Isaiah and Jeremiah it was in the hands of the Moabites and appears often in their oracles (Isa. 15:4; 16:8; Jer. 48:2, 34; 49:3).
Later it was taken by Alexander Jannaeus and held by Herod the Great. During the Jewish war it was plundered by the Jews. In 106, under the name of Esbus, it became part of the province of Arabia and flourished to the point of minting coinage. Having become Christian, it was an episcopal see dependent on Bosra. With the Arab occupation it lost all importance; today it is inhabited by a single Muslim family. Although no excavations have been carried out there, one can nevertheless note a building with columns, tombs and a pool that calls to mind the mention in Cont. 7:4.
Bibliography3 worksL. Musil, Moab, Vienna 1907, pp. 383-94, with a plan of the ruins; F.-M. Abel, Géographie de la Palestine, II, Paris 1938, pp. 348-49; S. J.
BIBL.: L. Musil, Moab, Vienna 1907, pp. 383-94, with a plan of the ruins; F.-M. Abel, Géographie de la Palestine, II, Paris 1938, pp. 348-49; S. J. Saller - B. Bagatti, The town of Nebo, Jerusalem 1949, pp. 147 and 226, for the Christian period.
Bagatti, Bellarmino. “Hesebon (Ebr. Hessbön, settanta ἐσβοῦς).” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI, col. 1427. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951. https://azioneromana.com/article/hesebon-ebr-hessbon-settanta-esbous.
MLA
Bagatti, Bellarmino. “Hesebon (Ebr. Hessbön, settanta ἐσβοῦς).” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VI, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1951, col. 1427. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/hesebon-ebr-hessbon-settanta-esbous.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec6_hesebon_ebr_hessbon_settanta_e,
author = {Bagatti, Bellarmino},
title = {Hesebon (Ebr. Hessbön, settanta ἐσβοῦς)},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {VI},
pages = {1427},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1951},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/hesebon-ebr-hessbon-settanta-esbous}
}
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