Moriah/mɒˈraɪə/ (Hebrew:מוֹרִיָּה) is the name given to a region in theBook of Genesis where thebinding of Isaac byAbraham is said to have taken place. Jews identify the region mentioned in Genesis and the specific mountain in which the near-sacrifice is said to have occurred with "Mount Moriah", mentioned inthe Book of Chronicles as the place whereSolomon's Temple is said to have been built, and both these locations are also identified with the currentTemple Mount inJerusalem.[1] TheSamaritan Torah, on the other hand, transliterates the place mentioned for the binding of Isaac as Moreh, a name for the region near modern-dayNablus.[2] It is believed by theSamaritans that the near-sacrifice actually took place onMount Gerizim, near Nablus in theWest Bank.[3]
ManyMuslims, in turn, believe the place mentioned in the first book of the Bible, rendered asMarwa in Arabic in theQuran, is actually located close to theKaaba inMecca,Saudi Arabia. There has been a historical account of rams' horns preserved in the Kaaba until the year 683, which are believed to be the remains of the sacrifice ofIshmael – the first son of Abraham, who most Muslims believe was the son Abraham tied down and almost sacrificed, and not Isaac.[4]
In theJewish Bible,Moriyya and/orMoriah (Hebrew:מוֹרִיָּה) occur twice, with differences of spelling between different manuscripts.[5] Tradition has interpreted these two as the same place:
Whereas the mention of Moriah in Genesis could be referring to any mountainous region, thebook of Chronicles says that the location ofAraunah's threshing floor is on "Mount Moriah" and that theTemple of Solomon was built over Araunah's threshing floor.[8] This has led to the classical rabbinical supposition that the Moriah region mentioned in Genesis as the place where Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac was in Jerusalem.[5]
In consequence of these traditions,Classical Rabbinical Literature theorised that the name was a (linguistically corrupted) reference to the Temple, suggesting translations likethe teaching-place (referring to theSanhedrin that met there),the place of fear (referring to the supposed fear that non-Israelites would have at the Temple),the place ofmyrrh (referring to the spices burnt asincense).[10] On the other hand, some interpretations of a biblical passage concerningMelchizedek, king ofSalem, would indicateJerusalem was already a city with a priest at the time ofAbraham, and thus is unlikely to have been founded on the lonely spot where Abraham tried to sacrifice Isaac.[11]
There is also debate as to whether the two references to Moriyya/Moriah (Genesis 22:2 and 2 Chronicles 3:1) are correctly understood as the same name. Ancient translators seem to have interpreted them differently: whereas all ancient translations simply transliterated the name in Chronicles, in Genesis they tended to try to understand the literal meaning of the name and to translate it. For example, in the GreekSeptuagint translation, these verses are translated as:
Moreover, other ancient translations interpret the instance in Genesis in different ways from the Septuagint:[5][10]
Some modern biblical scholars, however, regard the name as a reference to theAmorites, having lost the initiala viaaphesis; the name is thus interpreted as meaningland of the Amorites. This agrees with theSeptuagint, where, for example, 2 Chronicles 3:1 refers to the location asἈμωρία.[13] Some scholars also identify it withMoreh, the location near Shechem at which Abraham built an altar, according to Genesis 12:6. Hence a number of scholars believe that the "מוריה" mentioned in Genesis actually refers to a hill near Shechem, supporting theSamaritan belief that the near-sacrifice of Isaac occurred on MountGerizim – a location nearShechem.[10]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Seligsohn, Max (1901–1906)."Moriah". InSinger, Isidore; et al. (eds.).The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "Moriah".Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.