(Baʹmoth) [High Places].

One of the encampment stages of the nation of Israel on its approach to the land of Canaan. (Nu 21:19, 20) Bamoth is listed as between Nahaliel and “the valley that is in the field of Moab, at the head of Pisgah.” It is probably a shortened form of Bamoth-baal.​—See BAMOTH-BAAL.

(Baʹmoth-baʹal) [High Places of Baal].

A town in Moab to which Balak, the king of Moab, conducted the prophet Balaam so that he might see the camp of Israel and call down a curse upon it. (Nu 22:41) Balak’s selection of this location for the enacting of the curse and the accompanying sacrifices may indicate that it was a center for Baal worship, evidently situated in an elevated place. (Nu 23:1-9) Thereafter, Bamoth-baal and other towns “on the tableland” were assigned to the tribe of Reuben as an inheritance. (Jos 13:15, 17) In the early part of the ninth century B.C.E., King Mesha of Moab states that he rebuilt “Beth-bamoth, for it had been destroyed.” (Line 27 of the Moabite Stone) It seems likely that Bamoth, Bamoth-baal, and Beth-bamoth were all names of the same place.​—Compare Baal-meon, Beon, Beth-baal-meon in the article on BAAL-MEON.

The description given in the Bible account indicates a place on the plateau region toward the NE corner of the Dead Sea. While the identification is only tentative, a suggested location is that of Khirbet Quweijiya, about 14 km (9 mi) E of the Dead Sea, near the probable location of Mount Nebo.