- NEBALLAT wickedness in secret, (Nehemiah 11:34), probably the village
of Beit Nebala, about 4 miles north of Lydda. - NEBAT sight; aspect, the father of Jeroboam, the king of Israel (1 Kings
11:26, etc.). - NEBO proclaimer; prophet. (1.) A Chaldean God whose worship was
introduced into Assyria by Pul (Isaiah 46:1; Jeremiah 48:1). To this idol
was dedicated the great temple whose ruins are still seen at Birs Nimrud. A
statue of Nebo found at Calah, where it was set up by Pul, king of
Assyria, is now in the British Museum.
(2.) A mountain in the land of Moab from which Moses looked for the
first and the last time on the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 32:49; 34:1). It
has been identified with Jebel Nebah, on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea,
near its northern end, and about 5 miles south-west of Heshbon. It was the
summit of the ridge of Pisgah (q.v.), which was a part of the range of the
“mountains of Abarim.” It is about 2,643 feet in height, but from its
position it commands a view of Western Palestine. Close below it are the
plains of Moab, where Balaam, and afterwards Moses, saw the tents of
Israel spread along.
(3.) A town on the east of Jordan which was taken possession of and
rebuilt by the tribe of Reuben (Numbers 32:3,38; 1 Chronicles 5:8). It was
about 8 miles south of Heshbon.
(4.) The “children of Nebo” (Ezra 2:29; Nehemiah 7:33) were of those who
returned from Babylon. It was a town in Benjamin, probably the modern
Beit Nubah, about 7 miles north-west of Hebron.
- NEBUCHADNEZZAR in the Babylonian orthography Nabu-kudur-uzur,
which means “Nebo, protect the crown!” or the “frontiers.” In an
inscription he styles himself “Nebo’s favourite.” He was the son and
successor of Nabopolassar, who delivered Babylon from its dependence on
Assyria and laid Nineveh in ruins. He was the greatest and most powerful
of all the Babylonian kings. He married the daughter of Cyaxares, and thus
the Median and Babylonian dynasties were united.
Necho II., the king of Egypt, gained a victory over the Assyrians at
Carchemish. (See JOSIAH; MEGIDDO.) This secured to Egypt the
possession of the Syrian provinces of Assyria, including Palestine. The
remaining provinces of the Assyrian empire were divided between