kûr - har´ḗ - seth , - ha - rē´seth ( קיר־חרשׂת , ḳı̄r - ḥăresh , Isaiah 16:7; in 2 Kings 3:25 the King James Version reads Kir-haraseth (pausal form)); ( חרשׂ קיר , ḳı̄r ḥeres , Jeremiah 48:31 , Jeremiah 48:36; in Isaiah 16:11 the King James Version reads Kir-haresh (pausal form)): Modern scholars unanimously identify this city with Kir of Moab. In Jehoram's invasion of Moab it alone withstood his attack; and on the city wall the king of Moab sacrificed his son ( 2 Kings 3:25 ff). It was obviously the capital, i.e. Kir Moab. The name is generally taken to mean "city of the sun." Cheyne, however, points out ( EB , under the word): (1) that this explanation was unknown to the ancients; (2) that"kir" is nowhere suposed to mean "city," except in the compound names Ḳir -ḥeres , Ḳir -ḥareseth , and Ḳir Moab ; (3) that ḥeres , "sun," nowhere has a feminine ending, and (4) that Isaiah 16:7 (Septuagint and Aquila.) indicates d and not r in the second part of the name (Δέσεθ , Déseth ). He suggests, therefore, that we should possibly read הדשׁה קרית , ḳiryath ḥădhāshāh , "new city."
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) was edited by James Orr, John Nuelsen, Edgar Mullins, Morris Evans, and Melvin Grove Kyle and was published complete in 1939. This web site includes the complete text.
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