NEBAT (ne'b1t), (Heb. neb-awf, regard), a descendant of Ephraim, of the race of Joshua, and father of Jeroboam, the first king of the ten tribes (1 Kings xi:26; 2 ChrOn. ix:29), B. C. about 000.
NEBO (ne'bo), (Hcb. neb-o', height; Sept.
Nagd,, nalt-bah' ; Nabium, contracted 'tabu 'the prophet').
1. The interpreter of the will of Bel-Merodach of Babylon. He had a shrine at E-saggilla, the great temple of Bel at Babylon. But his own temple was E-Zida (now Birs-i-Nimriid), in Bor sippa, the suburb of Babylon. He was the son of Merodach and Zarpanit, and the husband of Tasmit, 'the hearer' (A. H. Sayce, Hastings' Bib. Diet.) In later days he was identified with Nusku, a solar deity of fire. He is mentioned in Is. xlvi and supposed to have been the symbol of the planet Mercury, the celestial scribe and interpreter of the gods, answering to the Hermes and Anuhis of thc Egyptians. He was likewise worshiped by the Sabians in Arabia (Norberg, Onomast. p. 95). Gesenius traces the name in the Hebrew word prophet, an interpreter of the divine will. The divine worship paid to this idol by the Chaldcans and Assyrians is attested by many compound proper names of which it forms a part, as Nebu chadnezzar, Nebuzar-adan, Nebushasban • beside3 others mentioned in classical writers—Na.bonedus, Nabonassar, Naburianus, Nabonabus, Nabopolas sar. (Gescnius and Henderson on Is. xlvi a.) (See BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA, RELIGION OF.) 2, A mountain of Moab "over against Jericho," from which Aloses beheld the Land of Canaan (Deut. xxxii :49). "And Moses went tip from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to thc top of Pisgah, . . . and the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan" (Dem. xxxiv ). Nebo was a mountain in the range of mountains called Abarim. Eusebius says it was shown in his day on the other side of Jordan, six miles to the west of Heshbon. If then definitely known, its location was afterward lost. Of the peaks in the Abarim range which have been suggented as Nebo are: Jebel Altarus, but this is not 'over against Jericho,"and is too far south ; Jebel 'Thiel' fifteen miles farther north than Jericho, and there fore not answering to the Scriptural narrative.
The explorations of De Saulcy, Due de Luynes, Tristram, Warren, Paine, and Merrill have led to the conclusion that Nebo was at the northern end of the Abarim range of mountains, i. e., Jebel Nebd. This mountain was five or six miles southwest of Heshbon, is about 2,7oo feet high, and commands a fine view of the country. Paine appears to ap ply Jebel Nebd to the eastern portion of the north ern group of peaks, and Jebel Siaghalt to the western portion ; Dr. Merrill claims that the Ar abs use Jebel Nebd, jebel Musa. and Jebel Siag halz indiscriminately for this group. While the discussions respecting Pisgah have been sharp, thc majority of explorers and scholars agree in identifying Nebo with the northern end of the Abarim range, Jebel Nebd (Schaff, Bib. Diet.). \Vith this identification A. T. Chapman, in Hast ings' Bib. Diet., agrees. He says: "It has been questioned whether all the places mentioned in Dent. xxxiv :I can be seen from any point of the ridge. The 'hinder sea' in this passage probably means the Dead Sea, as being behind Moses when he began his survey, and not the Mediterranean Sea. (The Prospect from Pisgah, by W. F. Birch.) (See PISGAII.) 3. A town in the tribe of Judah (Ezra ii :29) ; or, more fully, in ordcr to distinguish it from thc preceding, 'the other Nebo' (Neh. vii :33). The name may have, as in the preceding instance, been derived from that of the idol Nebo; but more probably from the Hebrew word `to be high.' The site of Nebo has been fixed at Belt Nubd, twelve miles northwest of Jerusalem and eight frotu Lydda, or at Nuba, four miles. south of Adullam (Armstrong, Names and Places, ctc.; \V. H. Bennett, Hastings' Bib. Dict).
4. A city of Reuben (Nuin. xxxii :38), taken by the Moabites, who held it in the time of Jere miah (Jer. xlviii The Moabite stone has an inscription relating to this town. It was eight miles south of Heshbon ; perhaps el Ildbis.