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MEDEBA

(Heb. mêḏĕḇāʾ)

A city in the Transjordanian highlands, 30 km. (19 mi.) S of Rabbath-ammon (modern Amman). When the Israelites divided Canaan, the plain of Medeba (Arab. Madaba) was part of the territory assigned to the Reubenites (Josh. 13:16). It had been brought under Israelite influence when the Israelites conquered the Amorite king Sihon (Num. 21:23-30) and became an important boundary between the Reubenites and the tribe of Manasseh (Josh. 13:9, 16).

Israelite control of Medeba was short-lived, since Medeba, as a Moabite city, became a significant staging area for military activities against David (1 Chr. 19:7). David successfully defeated his foes, but Medeba again changed hands after the time of Solomon. King Mesha of Moab claims that he retook Medeba from the Israelites (Mesha Stela 7-9; ANET, 320). One can suppose from these accounts that Medeba was probably close to the southern border of Israelite influence and changed allegiance more often than we know. Such changing of loyalties probably generated much animosity. Medeba is listed by Isaiah among the Moabite cities that one day would be decimated (Isa. 15:2).

The consensus of archaeologists is that the modern city of Madaba (225125) rests on the ruins of ancient Medeba. This has made it difficult to uncover evidence of the early biblical periods, although Tell Jalul within sight of Medeba and 5 km. (3 mi.) east may have been one of the material cultural phases of Medeba. One outstanding find from Madaba is the 6th-century a.d. mosaic Madaba Map, a Byzantine mosaic discovered in the floor of a church and the earliest known map of Palestine.

Bibliography. M. Piccirillo, “Medeba (Madaba),” NEAEHL 3:992-1001; H. Donner, The Mosaic Map of Madaba. Palaestina Antiqua n.s. 7 (Kampen, 1992).

David Merling

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

MEDEBA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)