MOREH

(Moʹreh) [instructor].

1. At least by Abraham’s time the big trees of Moreh constituted a well-known landmark near Shechem and seemingly continued to be such for centuries afterward. (Gen. 12:6; Deut. 11:30; perhaps also alluded to at Genesis 35:4; Joshua 24:25, 26; Judges 9:6.) Some scholars link the “big tree of Meonenim” with the “big trees of Moreh.” (Judg. 9:37) “Moreh” was perhaps the name of the original owner of the plot near Shechem having one especially prominent tree or a clump or grove of big trees.

2. The name of a hill, in the vicinity of which the Midianites were defeated by Gideon. (Judg. 7:1) This hill is generally thought to be the bare gray ridge of Jebel Dahi (sometimes called “Little Hermon”), about five miles (8 kilometers) N of the suggested site for the well of Harod.