Baal-meon (Beth-baal-meon, Beth-meon, or Beon) was a Moabite town, allotted to Reuben, but later retaken by Moab.
Also known as Baal Meon · Beth-baal-meon · Beth Baal Meon · Beth-meon · Beth Meon · Beon
Baal-meon, also known as Beth-baal-meon, Beth-meon, or Beon, was a town originally inhabited by the Moabites. During the Israelite conquest of Canaan, the town was allotted to the tribe of Reuben (Numbers 32:38; Joshua 13:17). The Reubenites rebuilt the city and renamed it, possibly to remove its association with the Canaanite deity Baal (Numbers 32:38). However, the town later reverted to Moabite control, as evidenced by its mention in the prophecies against Moab (Jeremiah 48:23; Ezk.25.9). The town was located in the territory of the Moabites, east of the Dead Sea (Numbers 32:3). Baal-meon was likely situated near the border between Moab and Reuben's territory, as it was mentioned in the context of the Reubenite settlements (1Ch.5.8).
Approximate location: 31.679, 35.735 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
Lord of dwelling, a town of Reuben (Num. 32:38), called also Beth-meon (Jer. 48:23) and Beth-baal-meon (Josh. 13:17). It is supposed to have been the birth-place of Elisha. It is identified with the modern M’ain, about 3 miles south-east of Heshbon.
idol or master of the house
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
6 verses in 5 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H1186
“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,
as well as Nebo and Baal-meon (whose names were changed), and Sibmah. And they renamed the cities they rebuilt.
to Heshbon and all its cities on the plateau, including Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon,
and Bela son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel. They settled in Aroer and as far as Nebo and Baal-meon.
upon Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon,
therefore I will indeed expose the flank of Moab beginning with its frontier cities—Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim—the glory of the land.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.