Waheb
1
WAHEB (PLACE) [Heb wāhēb (וָהֵב)]. Considered a place name by the RSV and the NEB, Waheb introduces a poetic fragment taken from the ancient Book of the Wars of Yahweh which has been inserted into the Transjordanian itinerary of the Israelites (Num 21:14). Both the grammar and versional variants indicate that the reading is disputed. Though the MT considers Waheb to be an object it appears to provide no verb on which Waheb is dependent within the poetic section. The LXX and OL read Zōob for Waheb assuming the Heb reading zāhāb which is the name of a locality in Deut 1:1. The KJV following Vg, which in turn reflects early targumic readings, assumed the Heb root yhb for Waheb and translated it by a verb “what he did.” If Waheb is a place name, as is most likely, it designates an unidentified location in Moab near the river Arnon.
Bibliography
Christensen, D. L. 1974. Num 21:14–15 and the Book of the Wars of Yahweh. CBQ 36: 359–60.
Knauf, E. A. 1980. Whb—Num 21, 14. BN 13: 35–40.
Arthur J. Ferch
Freedman, D. N. (1996, c1992). The Anchor Bible Dictionary (6:865). New York: Doubleday.
2
WAHEB Town in the area of Suphah (Nm 21:14). See Suphah.
Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library (1289). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.
3
Waheb (Heb. wāhēḇ)
Possibly a place in the Moabite region of Suphah near the river Arnon (Num. 21:14). It is mentioned in a quotation from the Book of the Wars of the Lord, but the Hebrew is obscure (LXX Gk. Zōob; cf. Heb. zāhāḇ, “Zahab”).
Freedman, D. N., Myers, A. C., & Beck, A. B. (2000). Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible (1363). Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans.
