Mount Nebo #30

Mount Nebo is the mountain in the land of Moab, east of the Jordan River, from which Moses looked across to the promised land shortly before he died. The book of Deuteronomy places it in the Abarim range, opposite Jericho, and calls its summit Pisgah (Deuteronomy 32:49; 34:1). Israel camped in the Abarim hills near the end of the wilderness journey (Numbers 33:47-48), when the forty years of wandering were almost over.

Biblical Significance

The Lord tells Moses to go up the mountain and view the land he is giving to Israel, and to know that he will die there and be gathered to his people, as his brother Aaron was on Mount Hor (Deuteronomy 32:48-52; Numbers 27:12-14). The reason given is that both brothers failed to honor the Lord as holy before the people at the waters of Meribah in the wilderness of Zin (Numbers 20:12; Deuteronomy 32:51). Moses had earlier begged to cross the Jordan and see the good land, and the Lord had refused his request (Deuteronomy 3:23-27).

Deuteronomy 34 describes the scene. From the top of Pisgah, the Lord shows Moses the whole land, from Gilead to Dan, and the territories of Naphtali, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Judah, as far as the western sea, the Negeb, and the plain of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar (Deuteronomy 34:1-3). The Lord says this is the land he swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses dies there at 120 years of age, his eye undimmed and his vigor unabated, and he is buried in a valley in Moab opposite Beth-peor. The text adds that no one knows the location of his grave to this day. Israel mourns him for thirty days, and Joshua, filled with the spirit of wisdom, takes up the leadership (Deuteronomy 34:5-9).

Today

Mount Nebo is traditionally identified with Jebel Siyagha, a ridge in Jordan about six miles (roughly 10 km) northwest of the town of Madaba, rising about 2,700 feet above sea level. On a clear day the viewpoint offers a wide outlook across the Dead Sea, the Jordan Valley, and the hills of Judea, with Jericho visible in the plain below. The nearby ruins of Khirbet el-Mukhayyat are often connected with the ancient town of Nebo, and scholars differ on whether the biblical mountain is the main summit or a neighboring one.

The pilgrim Egeria visited a church on the mountain in the late fourth century, and the Byzantine basilica later built there, known as the Moses Memorial Church, has fine mosaic floors. The site is now cared for by the Franciscans. A modern sculpture, the Brazen Serpent Monument, recalls the bronze serpent of Numbers 21 and the cross of Christ. Pope John Paul II visited in March 2000. The Bible says Moses’ grave is unknown, and the memorial at Nebo commemorates the place of the vision, not of his burial.