Dibon
Dibon is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Transjordan in modern-day Israel. Known today as Tall Dhiban. It appears across 10 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Dibon is one of the most theologically and historically significant cities of ancient Moab, appearing across ten Old Testament verses in contexts ranging from tribal allotment to prophetic judgment. Originally an Amorite city captured by Sihon before Israel's conquest (Numbers 21:26–30), it was later allocated to Gad and Reuben (Numbers 32:34; Joshua 13:9, 17). Centuries later, however, Dibon was firmly within Moabite territory, as attested by the Mesha Stele's inscription. The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah both directed oracles of judgment against Dibon: Isaiah 15:2 depicts the Moabites going up to weep at Dibon's high places, while Jeremiah 48:18, 22 addresses "daughter of Dibon" calling her to descend from glory because the destroyer has come. The city's high places, mentioned in the prophetic laments, reflect the Moabite religious cult that stood in perennial opposition to Israel's covenant faith. Dibon also features in Numbers 33:45–46 as a wilderness campsite (Dibon-gad) during Israel's journey. Its recurring presence in both narrative and prophetic texts makes it one of the best-documented Transjordanian cities in Scripture.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Tall Dhiban, identified as biblical Dibon, was excavated by American Schools of Oriental Research expeditions from 1950–56 under F.V. Winnett, W.L. Reed, and others. Occupation evidence spans Early Bronze Age through Ottoman periods, with particularly rich Iron Age materials confirming the city's prominence during the Moabite monarchy. The famous Mesha Stele, discovered in 1868 and partially reconstructed, was created here and records Moabite King Mesha's building projects at Dibon, including a high place (bamah) and city gates, correlating directly with prophetic references to Dibon's cultic installations. Iron Age pottery, architecture, and inscriptional material make Tall Dhiban one of the most important Transjordanian archaeological sites for biblical studies.
Verse Appearances (10)
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]