English
Português
Español
Français
Answer
Mount Nebo in the Bible is a lofty mountain in Moab where Moses beheld the Promised Land before his passing. Towering over 4,000 feet above the Dead Sea, Mount Nebo is located on the eastern side of the Jordan River, opposite the city of Jericho.
During the concluding stage of Israel’s journey to the Promised Land, the Israelites encamped in Moab near Mount Nebo. Prior to Moses’ passing, God summoned him to ascend to the summit of Mount Nebo: “On that same day the LORD told Moses, ‘Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. . . . You will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel’” (Deuteronomy 32:48-52). This same event at Mount Nebo is initially referenced in the Bible in Numbers 27:12–14.
God informed Moses that he would pass away on Mount Nebo overlooking Canaan. Moses’ plea to glimpse the Promised Land would be granted, yet he would not step foot into the land due to the incident at Meribah Kadesh when he struck the rock (Deuteronomy 3:23-28). On that day, Moses and his brother Aaron had disappointed God through their anger, pride, disobedience, and lack of faith.
Following his observation of the Promised Land from this elevated vantage point, Moses passed away on Mount Nebo and was laid to rest in the vicinity: “Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean.In the Sea, the Negev, and the entire region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, to Zoar. Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.” And Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in Moab, as the LORD had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is” (Deuteronomy 34:1-6). Mount Nebo is also the likely site of the conflict between Satan and the archangel Michael over the body of Moses “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke thee.'” , (Jude 1:9).
In extrabiblical Jewish literature, the prophet Jeremiah is said to have hidden the ark of the covenant, the tent of meeting, and the altar of incense in a cave on Mount Nebo. According to 2 Maccabees 2:4–8, Jeremiah received a revelation to take the tabernacle and the ark to a cave on the mountain and seal the entrance. The cave would then remain undiscovered until God gathers all His people together.
Mount Nebo, located today in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, still offers comprehensive views of the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, the West Bank, and, on clear days, even Jericho and Jerusalem.
