Abarim

Abarim [Heb. ʿabarıim, "regions beyond"]. A mountain region east of the Jordan River. The underlying root 'abar means "to pass over, through, or by" and appears in the phrase "beyond the Jordan" (Gen 50:10-11; Num 22:1). As a proper name, the words "mount" (Num 27:12) or "mountains" (Num 33:47) precede Abarim. The Israelites camped at Ije Abarim (lit. the "heaps of Abarim"), east of Moab, during their desert wandering (Num 21:11; 33:44-45). Balak took Balaam to a mountain crest in the Abarim range to curse Israel (Num 23:14, 28). And God directed Moses to go up into the Abarim to see the promised land (Num 27:12; Deut 3:27). From the pinnacles of Abarim, specifically Mount Nebo, Moses looked over the land of Canaan (Deut 32:49) and died well at 120 years old (Deut 34:1, 5). Abarim in Jeremiah 22:20 may refer to this same region.