Nob

A city of priests, so called, I Sam. xxi. 1. uom Nabach, talk.

Nob, a city of Benjamin, in the vicinity of Jerusalem, belonging to the priests, and where the tabernacle was stationed in the time of Saul (1Sa 21:1; 1Sa 22:9; 1Sa 22:11; 1Sa 22:19; Neh 11:32; Isa 10:32). From the last of these texts it would appear that Jerusalem was visible from Nob, which, therefore, must have been situated somewhere upon the ridge of the Mount of Olives, north-east of the city.

A city of priests, in Benjamin, near Jerusalem; its inhabitants were once put to the sword by command of Saul, for their hospitality to David, 1Sa 21:2 ; 22:9-23; Neh 11:32 ; Isa 10:32 . Its site is unknown.\par

Nob. (high place). 1Sa 22:19; Neh 11:32. A sacerdotal city in the tribe of Benjamin and situated on some eminence near Jerusalem. It was one of the places, where the Ark of Jehovah was kept for a time, during the days of its wanderings. 2Sa 6:1; etc. But the event for which Nob was most noted in the Scripture annals was a frightful massacre which occurred there in the reign of Saul. 1Sa 22:17-19.

A sacerdotal city in Benjamin, on a height near Jerusalem; the last stage of Sennacherib’s march from the north on Jerusalem, from whence he could see and "shake his hand against Zion" (Isa 10:28-32). The high priest Ahimelech’s residence in Saul’s time, near Anathoth and Gibeah of Saul. (See AHIMELECH; DOEG; DAVID.) The scene of Saul’s murder of the priests and smiting of the townspeople, on Doeg’s information that Ahimelech had given David shewbread (1Sa 20:1-19; 1Sa 21:1-9; 1Sa 22:9-19). Inhabited again on the return from Babylon (Neh 11:31-35). E. of the north road, opposite Shafat, is a tell with cisterns hewn in the rock and traces of a town (Courier, Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement).

From the hill-top is a full view of Zion, though Moriah and Olivet are hid by an intervening ridge. "The hill of God" (1Sa 10:5; 1Sa 10:10), where the Spirit came on Saul on his way from Bethlehem after Samuel’s anointing, was probably Nob, the seat then of the tabernacle, and meaning "prophecy." Shafat is Arabic for "view," answering to Josephus’ Greek name Scopus. Nob may be related to Nabat, "to view." namely, the point from whence the full view of Zion breaks on the traveler from the N. Mizpeh is mentioned in Joshua (Jos 18:26) and in Nehemiah (Neh 3:7) in connection with Gibeon. At Mizpeh probably the tabernacle was erected on its removal from Shiloh. Mizpeh, "watchtower," corresponds to Nob "a high place commanding a view."

They never are named in the same passage as distinct. They both are mentioned in connection with the royal town Gibeon. Gilgal was the first temporary abode of the tabernacle, then Shiloh for more than three centuries and a half, then the Nob or high place of Gibeon, finally Jerusalem. Warren (Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement) objects to Nob’s being identified with Nebi Samwil that the latter is four miles and a half from Jerusalem, and separated from it by the deep ravine, wady Beit Hanina; the Assyrian king marching (Isaiah 10) from Geba to Jerusalem would be more likely to find Nob on his way, at that Scopus (near the city) from whence Titus looked down upon Jerusalem, rather than turning away four miles and a half to Nebi Samwil. Warren makes Nob distinct from Gibeon (el Jib), from which latter Nebi Samwil is one mile and a quarter distant. (See MIZPEH.)

Nob (nŏb), height, hill. A city in Benjamin, on the great road from the north to Jerusalem, in the immediate neighborhood of which it must have been; perhaps on the ridge of Olivet. The tabernacle seems to have been here in the time of Saul, who, for the alleged favor shown by the high priest Abimelech to David, destroyed the city, which was, however, afterwards rebuilt. 1Sa 21:1; 1Sa 22:9-19; Neh 11:32; Isa 10:32.

City in the tribe of Benjamin, in which Ahimelech the priest dwelt with the tabernacle of the Lord. It was visited by David when he fled from Saul, and he and his followers ate the hallowed bread. David said it "is in a manner common": cf. Mat 12:3-4. The priest also gave him the sword of Goliath. Through the treachery of Doeg, this led to the death of Ahimelech, his fathers house, and all the inhabitants of the city of Nob. 1Sa 21:1-9; 1Sa 22:9-19; Neh 11:32; Isa 10:32. Not identified.

By: Executive Committee of the Editorial Board., J. Frederic McCurdy

City or village of priests where David received holy bread when in pressing need of food at the beginning of his persecution by Saul (I Sam. xxi. 1-9), for which nearly the whole community was put to death. It is also referred to by Isaiah as the latest stage in the imaginary march of an Assyrian king (probably Sennacherib) moving southward against Jerusalem. In Neh. xi. 32 it is mentioned along with Anathoth (as also in Isaiah), among a number of towns of the Benjamites. There is no doubt that Isaiah and Nehemiah refer to the same locality; but it has been objected against its identification with the priestly Nob that a settlement of priests in a fixed tabernacle could hardly have been possible just outside the walls of Jerusalem, which, until the accession of David, was in the hands of the heathen Jebusites. This objection is not decisive, however, since there was frequently a treaty of peace, or at least a "modus vivendi," between surviving Canaanitish settlements and the people of Israel in the days before the complete establishment of the monarchy. The station mentioned by Isaiah was, at any rate, very close to the Jerusalem of his time, since Anathoth, to the north, is identified with Anata, not more than four miles from the capital.

Cheyne in "Encyc. Bibl." thinks that the name "Nob" rests upon false readings, and that it is Gibeon that is really meant.

NOB.—A place of this name is mentioned in three passages—1Sa 21:1-15; 1Sa 22:1-23, Neh 11:33, Isa 10:32 (text not quite certain). The context in the two latter passages points to a place near Jerusalem. In 1Samam., David passes Nob, which has become ‘the city of priests’ after the destruction of Shiloh, on his way from Saul (in Gibeah, wh. see) to Gath; this would suit a site near Jerusalem, though it does not demand such a position, unless, indeed, we infer (cf. 1Sa 20:6) that David went to Nob with the intention of proceeding to Bethlehem (5 miles S. of Jerusalem). There is no strong reason against assuming that in all three passages the same place is referred to. In Neh 11:33 and Isa 10:32 Nob is closely connected with Anathoth, 2¹/2 miles N. of Jerusalem. Since in Isa 10:32 Nob is the last point reached by the Assyrian army and the place from which it threatens Jerusalem, the site is best sought for on an eminence a little N. of the city, perhaps in particular (with Driver) on ‘the Ras el-Meshârif. about 11/2 miles S.W. of Anathoth, the ridge from the brow of which the pilgrim along the north road still catches his first view of the holy city.’ The name has not survived; and the identification suggested stands or falls with the correctness of the Hebrew text in Isa 10:32.

G. B. Gray.

Fruit: empty: or possibly same as Nebo

nob (נב, nōbh; Codex Vaticanus Νομβά, Nombá; Codex Alexandrinus Νοβά, Nobá, and other forms): An ancient priestly town to which David came on his way South when he fled from Saul at Gibeah (1Sa 21:1). Here he found refuge and succor with Ahimelech. This was observed by Doeg the Edomite, who informed the king, and afterward became the instrument of Saul’s savage vengeance on the priests, and on all the inhabitants of the city (1 Sam 22). The name occurs in Neh 11:32 in a list of cities, immediately after Anathoth. In Isaiah’s ideal account of the Assyrians’ march against Jerusalem, Nob is clearly placed South of Anathoth. Here, says the prophet, the Assyrian shall shake his hand at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. It was a place, therefore, from which the Holy City and the temple were clearly visible.

The district in which the site must be sought is thus very definitely indicated; but within this district no name at all resembling Nob has been discovered, and so no sure identification is yet possible. ‛Anāta (Anathoth) is 2 1/2 miles Northeast of Jerusalem. Nob therefore lay between that and the city, at a point where the city could be seen, apparently on the great road from the Nob. Rather more than a mile North of Jerusalem rises the ridge Rās el-Meshārif (2, 665 ft.), over which the road from the Nob passes; and here the traveler approaching from that direction obtains his first sight of the city. It is fittingly named “the look-out.” Col. Conder states the case for identifying this height with Mt. Scopus where Titus established his camp at the siege of Jerusalem (PEFS, 1874, 111 ff). Immediately South of the ridge, to the East of the road, there is a small plateau, South of which there is a lower ridge, whence the slopes dip into Wâdy el-Jōz. This plateau, on which Titus may have sat, is a very probable site for Nob. It quite suits the requirements of Isaiah’s narrative, and not less those of David’s flight. Gibeah lay not far to the North, and this lay in the most likely path to the South.