Moriah

Religious views

In the book of Chronicles it is reported that the location of Araunah's threshing floor is on "Mount Moriah" and that the Temple of Solomon was built over Araunah's threshing floor.^[5] This has led to the classical rabbinical supposition that this is at the peak of Moriah.

There is debate as to whether the two references (Genesis 22:2 and Chronicles 3:1) are correctly translated as the same word. For example, in the LXX, these verses are translated as:

• Genesis 22:2: "And he said, Take thy son, the beloved one, whom thou hast loved—Isaac, and go into the high land (Koine Greek: εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν ὑψηλὴν), and offer him there for a whole-burnt-offering on one of the mountains which I will tell thee of"^[6]
• 2 Chronicles 3:1: "And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem in the mount of Amoria, where the Lord appeared to his father David, in the place which David had prepared in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite."^[7]

Some interpretations of a biblical passage concerning Melchizedek, king of Salem, would indicate Jerusalem was already a city with a priest at the time of Abraham, and thus is unlikely to have been founded after this, at the site of a sacrifice made by Abraham in the wilderness.^[8] However the view that Salem refers to Jerusalem (in David's time, Jebus) and not peace (shalome, shelomo) is of heavy debate between many sects of Jews and Christians.

In consequence of these traditions, Classical Rabbinical Literature theorised that the name was a (linguistically corrupted) reference to the Temple, suggesting translations like the teaching-place (referring to the Sanhedrin that met there), the place of fear (referring to the supposed fear that non-Israelites would have at the Temple), the place of myrrh (referring to the spices burnt as incense).^[9] Targum Pseudo-Jonathan interprets the name as land of worship, while the Samaritan Targum regards it as being land of vision.^[9]

Scholarly views

Most modern biblical scholars, however, regard the name as a reference to the Amorites, having lost the initial a via aphesis; the name is thus interpreted as meaning land of the Amorites. This agrees with the Septuagint, where, for example, 2 Chronicles 3:1 refers to the location as Ἀμωρία – Amōriā. This would give it the same etymological root as Hamor, a person's name in the narrative at Genesis 34 which concerns Shechem.^[9] Some scholars also identify it with Moreh, the location near Shechem at which Abraham built an altar, according to Genesis 12:6. Hence a number of scholars believe that Moriah refers to a hill near Shechem, supporting the Samaritan belief that the near-sacrifice of Isaac occurred on Mount Gerizim – a location near Shechem.^[9]

Correlation Isaac-Jesus

Some scholars reference the conversation Jesus had with the Samaritan woman at the well, where He stated that the Samaritans were inaccurate in their knowledge of the worship of God (John 4:21–24). Acknowledging the intended similarity between the sacrifice of Isaac and the crucifixion of Jesus, they make the connection that Moriah would be the same location where Jews made sacrifices at the Temple of Solomon. Isaac carrying the wood for the sacrificial fire as Jesus carried the cross; the reference in Hebrews 11:17–19 to Abraham believing God could raise Isaac from the dead; Isaac being Abraham's "only" son and Jesus being God's only begotten Son; all make the correlation between the two events point to Moriah being the Temple site.

From a Muslim point of view, the well-known site of Mount Marwah (Arabic مروة), the hill just outside the perimeter of the Kaaba in Mecca, may be identified with the biblical Moriah (Hebrew מוריה).^[10]