No-amon (Hastings' Dictionary)

See No. NOB (23; LXX B Νομβα, 1S 22% Νομμα. The etym. of 3) is not clear; the idea that it signifies a ‘high place’ has no Ses foundation).— 1. A locality a little N. of Jerusalem, and appar- ently within sight of the Temple-hill, mentioned in Is 10° as the spot from which the Assyr. king (Sennacherib), in his (ideal) march against the holy city, should audaciously ‘swing his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

’ Nob, it is here implied, was nearer to Jerusalem than ‘Anathoth, v.%, now ‘Anata, 24 miles N.E. of Jerusalem. The precise site has not been determined with certainty; but a spot on (or a little S. of) the Ras el-Mesharif, about 14 mile S.W. of ‘Anata, the ridge from the brow of which the pilgrim along the N. road still catches his first view of the holy city (PEF Mem., Jerus., p. 411), would suit the conditions admirably. The road from the N, s over this ridge: immediatel on the E.

of the road, just S. of the ridge, there is a plateau, some 300 yds. from N. to S., and 800 yds. from E. to W.; at the S. ἘΝ of this plateau there is a lower ridge, after which the ground descends rapidly into the Wady el-J6z, some 300 ft. below. This plateau is identified rani by Conder (PEFSt, 1874, p. 111 ff. ; cf. Robinson, BR i. 276) with the place called Scopus by Josephus (ἐπὶ τὸν Σκοπὸν καλούμενον), upon which Titus noe when approaching Jerusalem from the N.; Jos.

adds that it was 7 stadia from Jerusalem, and that the city was visible from it (ἔνθεν 4 re πόλις ἤδη κατεφαίνετο καὶ τὸ τοῦ ναοῦ μέγεθος ἔκλαμπρον, BU v. ii. 3, cf. Π. xix. 4, and Ant. ΧΙ. viii. 5, where a place Lada (ef. apy to look out), explained as mean- Ing σκοπή, is evidently the same). The ancient Nob was in all probability on, or very near, the same plateau (cf. Thomson, Land and Book, S. Pal. 434 f.; Del. or Dillm. on Is 10"; Buhl, Geogr. 96). amg g to the ZDMG xii. (1858) p. 169f.

, on one of the ridges just mentioned, at a part now NOBAH 557 called el-sadr, the breast, there are remains of ancient cisterns and rock-tombs. ΕἸ Isawiye, a village 1 mile S.W. of ‘Anata, which has been proposed as the site of Nob, seems to be excluded by the fact that it lies in a valley, and that Jerusalem is not visible from it. Shaphat, 2 miles due N.

of Jerusalem, which has also been suggested, is not probable, as it isin just the same latitude as “Anata, and does not lie between "Anata and Jerusalem, as re- quired by Is 1030.82, Nett Shamwtl ‘and Bir Nebala’ (Conder), 4} miles N.W. of Jerusalem, lie in a wrong direction altogether. The same place is also pretty clearly meant in Neh 11"; it is ἐπ σραδη there, together with other towns in the same neighbourhood, in close ae παι μοι and Ramah (24 miles N.E. and 5 miles N. of Jerus.

respectively) just as in Is (see νν.39. 8), 2, An ancient ‘city of the priests’ (1S 2219), where David, fleeing from Saul, found refuge with Ahimelech (1S 21): Doeg, the Edomite, was present at the time; and afterwards, when Saul’s other servants dreaded to fall upon the priests of J”, at the king’s instigation attacked the city, and massacred the entire population (in- cluding 85 priests), Abiathar alone escaping, 1S 229. 11.

18-22, Unless a settlement of priests in im- mediate proximity to the Jebusite stronghold of Jerusalem should be deemed improbable, there is no valid reason why this Nob should not be identical with 1: the situation is suitable; to judge from the narrative of 1S 21, Nob was not far from Gibeah (of Saul), v.‘, which was only a little N. of the Nob of Is 10® (see v.%); and (as H. P. Smith, on 1 S 21%, points out) David, making his wey, from Gibeah (the probable scene of 1 S 9015.)

to Bethlehem (1 S 20°), would pass Nob, and might naturally stop there, if he knew he had friends in it. Jerome, however (Ep. ad Eustochium, No. 86 ed. Bened., No. 108 ed. Migne, § 8 [p. 696]), speaks of ‘Nobe, urbem quondam sacerdotum,’ as in the neighbourhood of Lydda (Diospolis): this is no doubt the modern Set Niuiba, about 10 m. 8.E. of Lydda, and 13 m. W.N.W. from Jerusalem, very near to =e (go (cf. Robinson, BR iii. 145, and ii. 254; Buhl, p.

198); but there does not seem to be any sufficient ground for going so far to the W. to find the Nob of 1S 21. 22. 5. R. DRIVER. NOBAH (n33, Ndfav, Νάβεθ), as a personal name, oceurs only once (Nu 32%), in the older version which relates the settlement of the country on the E. of Jordan by the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh. According to this, the clan of that name belonged to the last-mentioned tribe, and formed a settlement in Kenath (wh.

see), on which they succeeded in impressing for a time their own clan name (1 Ch 2%), See next article. A. C. WELCH. NOBAH (n33) is mentioned along with Jogbehah (wh. see) as lying on the route which Gideon followed (Jg 8") in his pursuit of the routed Midianites. This would place the site about mid- way between Amman and es-Salt. It is again mentioned (Nu 32") as the name which a clan of Machir gave to Kenath after they had con- quered it.

The connexion between these two passages de- nends entirely upon the place where we agree to took for Kenath (wh. see). If Kenath be identified (Merrill, Εἰ. of rake SS 36 tf. ; Euseb. OS 269. 15) with Kanawit on the W. edge of the Hauran range, then we shall consider (Dillm, Nu-Dt-Jos, ᾿ 201 f.) that the Nobah of Judges was the origina] settle- ment of the clan, which, when it took possession of the new abode, for a time at least (1 Ch 2%) succeeded in stamping itsown name uponit.

If, on the other hand (Bertheau and Moore on Judges), this identification be given up, we shall hold that Nu 32" gives the account of how this clan came into possession of its tirst and only settlement, the town which lies near Jogbehah. NOBAI 658 It is possible that the name can be found also in Nu 21” ‘ Nobah, which lies on the desert,’ accord- ing to the Peshitta; but the text is too corrupt to otler any sure help. A. C. WELCH.