like blood to the Moabites. Wrongly concluding that the allied armies had slaughtered one another, the Moabites abandoned all caution and came to the Israelite camp, only to be put to flight. As the battle progressed, Moabite cities were ruined, good tracts of land were filled with stones, trees were cut down, and springs were stopped up. When King Mesha found himself penned up in the city of Kir-hareseth with the battle going against him, he, with 700 men, unsuccessfully tried to break through to the king of Edom. Finally he took his firstborn son and offered him up as a burnt sacrifice upon the wall. For this or some other reason there “came to be great indignation against Israel” and the siege was abandoned.​—2Ki 3:6-27.

As this humiliating defeat did not take place on foreign soil but brought devastation to the land of Moab, reasonably a considerable period of time would have been required for recovery. So it seems likely that it was at an earlier date during Jehoshaphat’s reign that Moab combined with the forces of Ammon and the mountainous region of Seir to attack Judah. By Jehovah’s intervention the three armies turned on one another and destroyed themselves. (2Ch 20:1, 22-24) Some scholars believe that this event is alluded to at Psalm 83:4-9.​—Compare 2Ch 20:14 with Ps 83:Sup.

In subsequent years enmity continued between Moab and Israel. After the death of the prophet Elisha, marauding bands of Moabites regularly invaded Israel. (2Ki 13:20) About two centuries later, in Jehoiakim’s time, similar Moabite bands contributed to the ruin of Judah during its final years. (2Ki 24:2) With the destruction of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E., Jews sought refuge in Moab, returning to Judah when Gedaliah was appointed governor.​—Jer 40:11, 12.

After the exile. After an Israelite remnant returned from Babylonian exile in 537 B.C.E., some married Moabite wives. But at Ezra’s admonition they dismissed these wives and their children. (Ezr 9:1, 2; 10:10, 11, 44) Years later Nehemiah found a similar situation; many Israelites had taken Moabite wives.​—Ne 13:1-3, 23.

Moab in Prophecy. In harmony with its long history of opposition to Israel, Moab is mentioned among the hard-set enemies of Jehovah’s people. (Compare Isa 11:14.) Condemned for reproaching Israel and for pride and haughtiness, Moab was finally to become a desolation like Sodom. (Zep 2:8-11; see also Jer 48:29.) Already at the close of the ninth century B.C.E., Amos wrote that Moab would suffer calamity for “burning the bones of the king of Edom for lime.” (Am 2:1-3) While some take this to mean that 2 Kings 3:26, 27 refers to King Mesha’s offering up, not his own son, but the firstborn of the king of Edom, this is an unlikely inference. One Jewish tradition, though, does link the event mentioned by Amos with the war waged against Mesha and claims that sometime after this conflict the Moabites dug up the bones of the king of Edom and then burned them for lime. But the Bible record provides no basis for determining the time involved.

Isaiah (chaps 15, 16), apparently around the time of King Ahaz’ death and while Assyria dominated in the eighth century B.C.E., referred to one Moabite city after another as being in line for calamity. He concluded with the words: “And now Jehovah has spoken, saying: ‘Within three years, according to the years of a hired laborer, the glory of Moab must also be disgraced with much commotion of every sort, and those who remain over will be a trifling few, not mighty.’”​—Isa 16:14.

From historical records the fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah and Amos cannot be placed precisely in the stream of time. However, there is evidence that Moab did come under the Assyrian yoke. Assyrian King Tiglath-pileser III mentions Salamanu of Moab among those paying tribute to him. Sennacherib claims to have received tribute from Kammusunadbi the king of Moab. And Assyrian monarchs Esar-haddon and Ashurbanipal refer to Moabite Kings Musuri and Kamashaltu as being subject to them. (Ancient Near Eastern Texts, edited by J. Pritchard, 1974, pp. 282, 287, 291, 294, 298) There is also archaeological evidence that many places in Moab were depopulated about the eighth century B.C.E.

Jeremiah’s prophecy of the seventh century B.C.E. pointed to the time when Jehovah would hold an accounting against Moab (Jer 9:25, 26), doing so by means of the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar. (Jer 25:8, 9, 17-21; 27:1-7) Numerous Moabite cities were to be reduced to a desolation. (Jer 48) Apparently when Judah experienced the execution of Jehovah’s judgment by means of the Babylonians, the Moabites said: “Look! The house of Judah is like all the other nations.” For thus failing to recognize that the judgment was really God’s and that the inhabitants of Judah were his people, the Moabites were to experience disaster and thereby ‘come to know Jehovah.’​—Eze 25:8-11; compare Eze 24:1, 2.

The Jewish historian Josephus writes that, in the fifth year after desolating Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar returned to war against Coele-Syria, Ammon, and Moab and thereafter attacked Egypt. (Jewish Antiquities, X, 181, 182 [ix, 7]) Regarding archaeological confirmation of the desolation of Moab, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible observes: “Archaeological exploration has shown that Moab was largely depopulated from ca. the beginning of the sixth century, and in many sites from ca. the eighth century. From the sixth century on, nomads wandered through the land until political and economic factors made sedentary life possible again in the last centuries B.C.”​—Edited by G. A. Buttrick, 1962, Vol. 3, p. 418; compare Eze 25:8-11.

Later, in fulfillment of Jeremiah 48:47, Cyrus, the conqueror of Babylon, likely permitted Moabite exiles to return to their homeland.

The accurate fulfillment of the prophecies concerning Moab cannot be denied. Centuries ago the Moabites ceased to exist as a people. (Jer 48:42) Today what are considered to have been such Moabite cities as Nebo, Heshbon, Aroer, Beth-gamul, and Baal-meon are represented by ruins. Many other places are now unknown.

The sole explanation for the disappearance of the Moabites as a people is provided by the Bible. Noted the 1959 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (Vol. 15, p. 629): “Israel remained a great power while Moab disappeared. It is true that Moab was continuously hard pressed by desert hordes; the exposed condition of the land is emphasized by the chains of ruined forts and castles which even the Romans were compelled to construct. But the explanation is to be found within Israel itself, and especially in the work of the prophets.”

In view of the disappearance of the Moabites as a people, the inclusion of Moab at Daniel 11:41 among nations in “the time of the end” (Da 11:40) is logically to be regarded in a figurative sense. The Moabites evidently refer to some of those that “the king of the north” does not succeed in bringing under his control.

For information on the Moabite Stone, see MESHA No. 2.

(Mo·a·diʹah) [possibly, Appointed Time (Seasonal Festival; Meeting) of Jah].

A priestly paternal house of which Piltai was the head in the days of Joiakim. (Ne 12:12, 17) It has been suggested that “Moadiah” is a variation of the name “Maadiah” and that Moadiah is the same person as the priest Maadiah who accompanied Zerubbabel to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile.​—Ne 12:1, 5.

An awareness of one’s limitations; also chastity or personal purity. The Hebrew root verb tsa·naʽʹ is rendered “be modest” in Micah 6:8, its only occurrence. The related adjective tsa·nuʹaʽ (modest) occurs in Proverbs 11:2, where it is contrasted with presumptuousness. Although some modern scholars believe that the sense of this root is “be cautious, careful, judicious,” many take it to mean “be modest.” For example, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (by Brown, Driver, and Briggs, 1980, p. 857) says that the root conveys the idea of one who is retiring, modest, or humble. “Modesty” is a translation of the Greek ai·dosʹ. (1Ti 2:9) Ai·dosʹ used in a moral sense expresses the thought of reverence, awe, respect for the feeling or opinion of others or for one’s own conscience and so expresses shame, self-respect, a sense of honor, sobriety, and moderation. (A Greek-English Lexicon by H. Liddell and R. Scott, revised by H. Jones, Oxford, 1968, p. 36) Comparing ai·dosʹ with the more common Greek word for “shame” (ai·skhyʹne; 1Co 1:27; Php 3:19), lexicographer Richard Trench says that ai·dosʹ is “the nobler word, and implies the nobler motive: in it is involved an innate moral repugnance to the doing of the dishonorable act, which moral repugnance scarcely or not at all exists in the [ai·skhyʹne].” He states that “[ai·dosʹ] would always restrain a good man from an unworthy act, while [ai·skhyʹne] might sometimes restrain a bad one.” (Synonyms of the New Testament, London, 1961, pp. 64, 65) Thus, the conscience is especially involved in the restraining effect implied in ai·dosʹ.

Before God. With regard to modesty, in the sense of a proper estimate of one’s own self, the Scriptures give much counsel. “Wisdom is with the modest ones,” says the proverb. This is because the person manifesting modesty avoids the dishonor that accompanies presumptuousness or boastfulness. (Pr 11:2) He is following the course approved by Jehovah and is therefore wise. (Pr 3:5, 6; 8:13, 14) Jehovah loves and grants to such one wisdom. One of the requirements for gaining Jehovah’s favor is ‘to be modest in walking with him.’ (Mic 6:8) This involves a proper appreciation of one’s position before God, recognizing one’s sinful state as contrasted with Jehovah’s greatness, purity, and holiness. It also means that a person should recognize himself as a creature of Jehovah, altogether dependent on Him and subject to His sovereignty. Eve was one who failed to appreciate this. She stepped out for complete independence and self-determination. Modesty would have helped her to dismiss from her mind the thought of becoming “like God, knowing good and bad.” (Ge 3:4, 5) The apostle Paul counsels against overconfidence and presumptuousness, saying, “Keep working out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”​—Php 2:12.