in 2 Kings 19:12, and Isaiah 37:12, as the name of a region conquered by
the Assyrians.
(3.) Son of Joah, and one of the Levites who assisted in reforming the
public worship of the sanctuary in the time of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles
29:12).
- EDER flock. (1.) A city in the south of Judah, on the border of Idumea
(Joshua 15:21).
(2.) The second of the three sons of Mushi, of the family of Merari,
appointed to the Levitical office (1 Chronicles 23:23; 24:30).
- EDOM (1.) The name of Esau (q.v.), Genesis 25:30, “Feed me, I pray
thee, with that same red pottage [Hebrews haadom, haadom, i.e., ‘the red
pottage, the red pottage’]...Therefore was his name called Edom”, i.e., Red.
(2.) Idumea (Isaiah 34:5, 6; Ezekiel 35:15). “The field of Edom” (Genesis
32:3), “the land of Edom” (Genesis 36:16), was mountainous (Obad. 1:8,
9, 19, 21). It was called the land, or “the mountain of Seir,” the rough hills
on the east side of the Arabah. It extended from the head of the Gulf of
Akabah, the Elanitic gulf, to the foot of the Dead Sea (1 Kings 9:26), and
contained, among other cities, the rock-hewn Sela (q.v.), generally known
by the Greek name Petra (2 Kings 14:7). It is a wild and rugged region,
traversed by fruitful valleys. Its old capital was Bozrah (Isaiah 63:1). The
early inhabitants of the land were Horites. They were destroyed by the
Edomites (Deuteronomy 2:12), between whom and the kings of Israel and
Judah there was frequent war (2 Kings 8:20; 2 Chronicles 28:17).
At the time of the Exodus they churlishly refused permission to the
Israelites to pass through their land (Numbers 20:14-21), and ever
afterwards maintained an attitude of hostility toward them. They were
conquered by David (2 Samuel 8:14; comp. 1 Kings 9:26), and afterwards
by Amaziah (2 Chronicles 25:11, 12). But they regained again their
independence, and in later years, during the decline of the Jewish kingdom
(2 Kings 16:6; R.V. marg., “Edomites”), made war against Israel. They
took part with the Chaldeans when Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem,
and afterwards they invaded and held possession of the south of Palestine
as far as Hebron. At length, however, Edom fell under the growing
Chaldean power (Jeremiah 27:3, 6).