PEOR niyam, with the article, The opening ; cry(1.71) ; Mons Fhogor), the name of a mountain on the plateau of Moab, to the top of which Balak led Balaam that he might see the whole host of Israel and curse them (Num. xxiii. 2S). It appears to have been one of the ancient high places of Moab dedicated to the service of Baal (cf. xxii. 41 ; xxiii. 13, 27). Its position is described as looking to the face of Jeshimon ;' that is, the wilderness of Arabia. [jEsximoN.] If it was in sight of the Arabah of Moab, on the east bank of the Jordan, where the Israelites were then encamped, and if at the same time it commanded a view of the eastern desert, it must have been one of those peaks on the western brow of the plateau which are seen between Heshbon and the banks of the Arnon (cf. Joseph. Antiq. iv. 6. 4). Two other incidental notices of the sacred writers tend to fix its position. There can he little doubt that it was connected with the town of Beth-Peor, which is described as `over against' the site of the Israelitish camp (Dent. iii. 29 ; cf. xxxiv. 6). [BETH-PEOR.] Jo sephus says it was sixty stadia distant from the camp (Antiq. iv. 6. 4) ; Eusebius states that it lay above Libias, six miles distant from it (Onomast., s. v. Fogor and Beth Toga) ; • and Jerome mentions Mount Phogor as situated between Libias and Heshbon (Onomast., s.v. Araboth Moab). It would
seem, therefore, that this mountain was one of those peaks on the south side of Wady Heshbon commanding the Jordan valley. The name has disappeared, and it may not be possible now to identify the exact peak to which it was given in ancient times.
The matter of Peor' ('D 111) mentioned in Num. xxv. i8, and xxxi. 16 ; and the iniquity of Peor' (1I), spoken of by Joshua (xxii. 17), refer to the Midianitish deity Baal-peor, and not to the mountain. By following the counsels of Balaam, the Midianites seduced the Israelites to take part in their worship, and the licentious revels by which it appears to have been accompanied ; and thus they brought upon them the divine ven geance (Num. xxxi. 16 ; xxv. r, seq.) The temple or shrine of Baal-peor probably stood on the top of the mountain ; and the town of Beth-peor may have been situated at its base.
Jerome mentions a village called Fogor, which is the Greek form of Peor (40o-ythp), on the west of the Jordan, near Bethlehem (Onomast., s. v.) It is doubtless identical with the Fhagor (4)wycbp) found in the LXX. version of Josh. xv. 59, and with the ruined village now called Beit Faghfir, about four miles south-west of Bethlehem (Robin son, B. R., iii. 275; Reland, Pal., p. 643).—J. L. P.