Abarim

Abarim (Hebr. har ha’ abharim, hare ha’abharim; Sept. to oros to `Abarim, en to peran tou `Iordanou, mountain Abarim, mountains of Abarim, a mountain range across Jordan, extending from Mount Nebo in the north, perhaps to the Arabian desert in the south.

The Vulgate (Deut., xxxii, 49) gives its etymological meaning as “passages.” Its northern part was called Phasga, (or Pisgah) and the highest peak of Phasga was Mount Nebo (Deut., iii, 27; xxxiv, 1; xxxii, 49; Num., xxiii, 14; xxvii, 12; xxi, 20; xxxiii, 47). Balaam blessed Israel the second time from the top of Mount Phasga (Num., xxiii, 14); from here Moses saw the Land of Promise, and here Jeremias hid the ark (II Mach., ii, 4, 5). (See Mount Nebo. Phasga.)

A.J. MAAS