PISGAH pĭz’ gə (הַפִּסְגָּֽה; LXX Φασγά meaning uncertain, τὸ̀ λελαξευμένον, ἡ λαξευτή, Deut 4:49, meaning that which is hewn or cut). A height in the mountains of Abiram, NE of the Dead Sea.

The name Pisgah never occurs apart from the phrases “top of Pisgah” (Num 21:20; 23:14; Deut 3:27; 34:1) and “slopes of Pisgah” (Deut 3:17; 4:49; Josh 12:3; 13:20). The KJV and LXX transliterates the Heb. word for “slope” (Ashdoth), except in Deuteronomy 4:49 where the KJV has “springs of Pisgah.” The first occurrence of the name is in the account relating the progress of the wandering Israelites. They came “to the valley lying in the region of Moab by the top of Pisgah which looks down upon the desert” (or Jeshimon, KJV, Num 21:20). It was to the “top of Pisgah” that Balaam was taken to curse Israel (23:14). Not only does this height overlook the plains of Moab where the Israelites were, but to the W it looks over the Dead Sea (Deut 3:17; 4:49; Josh 12:3). The slopes of Pisgah later became part of the tribe of Reuben (Josh 13:15-20).

Pisgah was easily scaled, although very high. God told Moses to go there to look in all directions (Deut 3:27). The problem of an identification comes in Deuteronomy 34:1 where Moses went up “to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho.” From that point God showed him the Promised Land as far N as Dan and as far W as the Western Sea. The Mediterranean is not visible from any point in S Trans-Jordan. God must have shown him what was not visible.

Most scholars understand Jebel en-Neba to be Mt. Nebo and Ras es-Siyaghah as Pisgah. These two peaks are connected by a saddle. Pisgah commands a magnificent view of the Jordan Valley and even to Mt. Hermon on clear days. The Jeshimon, or desert, of Numbers 21:20 would be the Ghor el-Belqa, and the valley would be that of Ayun Musa.

Bibliography E. Kraeling, Bible Atlas (1956), 127f.