183. Chemosh

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 10
Listen from:
Numbers 21:29. Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh.
Chemosh was the national god of the Moabites, and hence they are called in this text, and in Jeremiah 48:46, “the people of Chemosh.” He was also worshiped by the Ammonites (Judg. 11:24). Solomon built high places for Chemosh and Molech in the neighborhood of Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:7). Nothing definite is known concerning this god, or the mode of his worship. There is an old Jewish tradition that he was worshiped under the form of a black stone; and another that his worshipers went bareheaded, and refused to wear garments that were made by use of a needle. Chemosh is also mentioned in Jeremiah 48:7,13. His name is found on the celebrated Moabite Stone.