Luhith
Luhith is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Transjordan in modern-day Israel. Known today as Kathrabba. It appears across 2 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Luhith appears exclusively in prophetic oracles against Moab, mentioned in both Isaiah 15:5 and Jeremiah 48:5. In these parallel passages, the ascent of Luhith becomes a scene of desperate weeping as Moabite refugees flee the devastation of their homeland. Isaiah describes the fugitives going up to Luhith with continual weeping, painting a vivid picture of national catastrophe and the sorrow of displacement. Jeremiah echoes this imagery, describing bitter crying along the ascent of Luhith as part of Moab's comprehensive judgment. The city's name, possibly derived from a root meaning "tablets" or "flat surfaces," suggests it sat upon a plateau or tableland characteristic of the Moabite highlands east of the Dead Sea. Luhith appears to have been located along a major route through Moab, making it a natural waypoint for refugees. Its inclusion in these oracles serves as a powerful reminder that God's prophetic word addresses all nations, not Israel alone, and that pride and self-sufficiency inevitably lead to judgment.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The precise location of Luhith remains uncertain. Eusebius in his Onomasticon placed it between Areopolis (Rabbath Moab) and Zoar, somewhere along the road descending from the Moabite plateau toward the southern end of the Dead Sea. One proposed identification is Kathrabba, situated in the highlands of modern-day Jordan east of the Dead Sea. The terrain in this region features dramatic ascents and descents between the plateau (approximately 900 meters elevation) and the Dead Sea rift valley (approximately 400 meters below sea level). Limited archaeological investigation has been conducted at the proposed site. The broader Moabite plateau region has yielded significant finds including the famous Mesha Stele, which illuminates Moabite culture and its interactions with Israel during the ninth century BCE.
Verse Appearances (2)
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]