SEIR, MOUNT

SEIR, MOUNT (Heb. הַר שֵׂעיר), biblical name for a number of regions, the appellation originally meaning "hairy," i.e., wooded. (1) The area originally inhabited by the Horites (Gen. 14:6; Deut. 2:4) and later by the Edomites, the children of Esau (Gen. 32:4; 33:14, 16). An archaeological survey of the region south of the Zered River has shown that it was inhabited by an Early Bronze Age population until about the 20th century B.C.E. After a gap, the kingdom of Edom was established in the same area in about 1300 B.C.E. Seir is mentioned in Egyptian sources from the time of merneptah . The Israelites were ordered to leave the area in the possession of "their brethren, the children of Esau," who dwelt in Seir (Deut. 2:4, 5, 8; Josh. 24:4). Actually, they were unable to penetrate the strong defenses of the Edomites and were forced either to pass between them and the Moabites or go around Seir. Nevertheless, Balaam prophesied that the region would fall to Israel (Num. 24:18), as it did in the days of David. Part of Seir was later occupied by the Simeonites (I Chron. 4:42). Jehoshaphat and Amaziah, kings of Judah, fought against the people of Seir (II Chron. 20:22–23; 25:11). The prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel use the name as a synonym for Edom (Isa. 21:11; Ezek. 35). The area is now known as Jebel (Ar. al-Jibāl), a mountainous region (highest point: Jebel Hārūn, 1396 m.) which is well watered (up to 400 mm. annual rainfall) and wooded in parts. The name is attributed to parts of the Negev west of the Arabah in Deuteronomy 1:2 and 1:44 and some scholars place the theophany referred to in Deuteronomy 33:2 in this area. (2) An area on the northern border of the territory of Judah, between Kiriath-Jearim and Chesalon (Josh. 15:10). Most of this mountainous region was evidently wooded until the period of the United Monarchy. (3) An unidentified locality, the place to which Ehud escaped from Jericho after killing Eglon, the king of Moab (Judg. 3:26; as Seirah). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Abel, Géog, 1 (1933), 389–91; Aharoni, Land, index. (Michael Avi-Yonah)