Moriah (Hebrew: מוריה, Mōriyyā = "ordained/considered by YHWH") is the name given to a mountain range by the book of Genesis, in which context it is given as the location of the near sacrifice of Isaac. See also Yahweh Tetragrammaton (from the Greek, meaning ' of four letters' (tetra "four" + gramma (gen The Binding of Isaac, in Genesis, is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah Traditionally Moriah has been interpreted as the name of the specific mountain at which this occurred, rather than just the name of the range. The exact location referred to is currently a matter of some debate.

Speculation and debate

In the book of Chronicles it is reported that the location of Araunah's threshing floor is "in mount Moriah" and that the Temple of Solomon was built over Araunah's threshing floor. The Books of Chronicles ( Hebrew Divrei Hayyamim, דברי הימים Greek Paraleipomêna) are part of the Hebrew Bible (Jewish Araunah is the name given by the Books of Samuel to a Jebusite who owned a Threshing floor that was purchased by David and turned into an altar Solomon's Temple (בית המקדש transliterated Beit HaMikdash) also known as the First Temple, was according to This has led to the classical rabbinical supposition that this is at the peak of Moriah; a later Islamic tradition recounts that Moriah is the same location as the Foundation Stone, which Jewish tradition holds to be the former location of the Temple of Solomon. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. The Foundation Stone ( Hebrew: אבן השתייה translit Even haShetiya) or Rock ( Arabic: translit However, this tradition is not reported by the centuries earlier Books of Samuel, and biblical scholars view the tradition as somewhat implausible; according to a Biblical passage concerning Melchizedek, Jerusalem was already a city with a priest at the time of Abraham, and thus is unlikely to have been founded after this, at the site of a sacrifice made by Abraham in the wilderness. The Books of Samuel ( Hebrew: Sefer Sh'muel ספר שמואל are part of the Tanakh (part of Judaism 's Hebrew Bible) and also of This article is about the academic treatment of the bible as a historical document Melchizedek is an enigmatic figure twice mentioned in the Hebrew Tanakh and in the Christian Old Testament. Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the Abraham ( Ashkenazi   Avrohom or Avruhom; ابراهيم, {{Unicode|Ibrāhīm}}; Ge'ez: ^[1]

An alternative tradition, regarded as similarly dubious by biblical scholars (again due to the Melchizedek narrative), is that Moriah refers to the highest peak of the mountainous ridge on which Jerusalem is built, which would place the location not at the Temple Mount, nor the hill now called Zion, but at the hill of Golgotha (777m elevation). The Temple Mount ( הַר הַבַּיִת, Har haBáyit) also called the Noble Sanctuary ( الحرم القدسي الشريف, al-haram Zion ( Hebrew: צִיּוֹן ( Persian: صهیون tziyyon; Tiberian vocalization: tsiyyôn; transliterated Zion "Golgotha" redirects here For other uses see Golgotha (disambiguation.

In consequence of these traditions, Classical Rabbinical Literature theorised that the name was a (linguistically corrupted) reference to the Temple, suggesting translations like the teaching-place (referring to the Sanhedrin that met there), the place of fear (referring to the supposed fear that non-Israelites would have at the Temple), the place of myrrh (referring to the spices burnt as incense). Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense can mean the entire spectrum of Rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history The Sanhedrin (סנהדרין συνέδριον ''synedrion'', "sitting together" hence " assembly " or "council" was an assembly Myrrh is a reddish-brown Resinous material the dried sap of the tree Commiphora myrrha, native to Yemen, Somalia Incense is composed of Aromatic biotic materials It releases fragrant Smoke when burned ^[2] Targum Pseudo-Jonathan interprets the name as land of worship, while the Samaritan Targum regards it as being land of vision. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western Targum (translation of the Torah (Pentateuch from the Land of Israel. A targum ( Hebrew: תרגום plural targumim, lit "translation interpretation" is an Aramaic Translation of the Hebrew ^[2]

Most modern biblical scholars, however, regard the name as a reference to the Amorites, losing the initial a via aphesis; the name is thus interpreted as meaning land of the Amorites. Amorite ( Sumerian MARTU, Akkadian Tidnum or Amurrūm, Egyptian Amar, Hebrew ’emōrî This also agrees with the biblical text as it appears in the Syriac Peshitta – where the near-sacrifice occurs at the land of the Amorites, and in the Septuagint, where, for example, 2 Chronicles 3:1 refers to the location as Ἀμωρία – Amōriā. The name 'Peshitta' The name 'Peshitta' is derived from the Syriac mappaqtâ pšîṭtâ (ܡܦܩܬܐ ܦܫܝܛܬܐ literally meaning 'simple version' The Septuagint (ˈsɛptuədʒɪnt or simply " LXX " is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the This would give it the same etymological root as Hamor, a person's name in the narrative at Genesis 34 which concerns Shechem. Etymology is the study of the History of Words &mdash when they entered a language from what source and how their form and meaning have changed over time According to the Hebrew Bible, Dinah ( was the daughter of Jacob, one of the Patriarchs of the Israelites and Leah, his first wife Shechem ( Sichem, Shkhem or Shachmu, Hebrew: שְׁכֶם‎ / שְׁכָם, Standard ^[2] Some scholars also identify it with Moreh, the location near Shechem at which Abraham built an altar, according to Genesis 12:6. Moreh is a name of a location commonly used in the Genesis. Torah locality Translators who consider the obscure elon moreh of Genesis Hence a number of scholars believe that Moriah refers to a hill near Shechem, supporting the Samaritan belief that the near-sacrifice of Isaac occurred on Mount Gerizim – a location near Shechem. Mount Gerizim ( Samaritan Hebrew Ar-garízim, Arabic جبل جرزيم Jabal Jarizīm, Tiberian Hebrew הַר גְּרִזִּים ^[2]

In Masonic teachings, Mount Moriah is the location upon which Hiram Abiff, the Junior Grand Warden of the Medieval Grand Lodge, and noted architect of King Solomon's temple, was buried by his murderers after killing him near the completion of the Temple. Hiram Abiff is a character who figures prominently in an allegorical play that is presented during the third degree of Craft Freemasonry.

See also

• Binding of Isaac

Notes and citations

This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.

External links

• Araunah
• Mount Moriah video presents Christian claim that Christ's crucifixion occurred on this mountain.