fā´ath , mō´ab (Codex Alexandrinus Φαὰθ Μωάβ , Phaáth Mōáb ; Codex Vaticanus followed by Swete, Φθαλειμωάβ , Phthaleimōáb (1 Esdras 5:11); 1 Esdras 8:31 (the King James Version "Pahath Moab"), Codex Vaticanus followed by Swete reads Μααθμωάβ , Maathmōáb ; Fritzsche in both places reads Φαὰθ Μωάβ , Phaáth Mōáb ): One of the families, part of which, consisting "of the sons of Jesus and Joab 2,812," went up out of captivity with Zerubbabel and Joshua (1 Esdras 5:11), and part of which, namely, "Eliaonias the son of Zaraias and with him 200 men," went up with Ezra (1 Esdras 8:31 = "Pahath-moab" of Ezra 2:6; Ezra 8:4; (Ezra 10:30 ); and Nehemiah 7:11 ( Nehemiah 3:11; Nehemiah 10:14 )). As the name of a Jewish clan or family the name Phaath or Pahath Moab presents difficulties of which explanations are offered, though none is convincing. It is generally taken as "ruler of Moab," which may refer to the Israelite conquest of Moab in which this family may have distinguished itself, or it may have arisen from the settlement and incorporation of a Moabite family in Hebrew territory, or from the settlement of an Israelite family in Moabite territory (compare 1 Chronicles 4:22 ); or it may be the corruption of some unknown word or name. Instances of such corruption are quite common in these apocryphal Hebrew proper names. See PAHATH-MOAB .
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