Beth-diblathaim
Beth-diblathaim is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Transjordan in modern-day Israel. Known today as Duleilat esh Sharqiyeh. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Beth-diblathaim appears in Jeremiah 48:22 as one of the cities of Moab against which the prophet pronounces divine judgment. The passage is part of a lengthy oracle against Moab (Jeremiah 48) that envisions the systematic devastation of Moabite territory as punishment for the nation's pride and its opposition to Israel. The name may mean "house of the two fig cakes," a puzzling designation that might reflect agricultural prosperity or an association with a particular product of the region. Beth-diblathaim is also mentioned in the Mesha Stele, the ninth-century BC Moabite inscription of King Mesha, as Diblaten, one of the Moabite cities that Mesha claims to have built or fortified, providing an important extrabiblical attestation of the place. The city lay in the Transjordanian plateau of Moab, east of the Dead Sea. Its inclusion in Jeremiah's oracle alongside towns such as Dibon, Nebo, and Horonaim situates it firmly within the heartland of Moabite civilization. The theological thrust of the oracle is that no human achievement or fortification can withstand God's sovereign judgment.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Beth-diblathaim is generally identified with a site in the Moabite plateau east of the Dead Sea, possibly Khirbet Deleilat esh-Sherqiyeh in modern Jordan. Its mention on the Mesha Stele as "Diblaten" provides one of the clearest extrabiblical confirmations of any Moabite city mentioned in Jeremiah's oracles. The Moabite plateau has been surveyed extensively by scholars including Nelson Glueck, whose regional surveys in the mid-twentieth century documented numerous Iron Age sites in the region. The area shows evidence of dense Iron Age II settlement, consistent with Moab's prosperity during the period of the divided monarchy. Formal excavation of the specific site has been limited, but the regional picture is relatively well-documented.
Verse Appearances (1)
Jer
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]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]