Bible Locations

Oboth was one of Israel's campsites near the end of the desert journey. Numbers 21:10-11 says, "The Israelites moved on and camped at Oboth. Then they set out from Oboth and camped in Iye Abarim, in the wilderness that faces Moab toward the sunrise." Numbers 33:43-44 lists it between Punon and Iye-abarim. This came right after the bronze serpent, which Moses set up after the people were bitten by venomous snakes. So Oboth was in the Arabah or on the edge of Edom, as Israel went around Edom toward Moab. Its location is unknown. Some scholars suggest Ain el-Weiba, a spring in the Arabah, or a site near the Wadi al-Hasa, the Zered Valley, which formed the border between Edom and Moab. The name may mean "waterskins" or "necromancers," possibly describing springs used to fill waterskins.