Lexical Summary
Moriyyah: Moriah
Original Word: מוֹרִיָּה
Part of Speech: Proper Name Location
Transliteration: Mowriyah
Pronunciation: mo-ree-YAH
Phonetic Spelling: (mo-ree-yaw')
KJV: Moriah
NASB: Moriah
Word Origin: [from H7200 (רָאָה - see) and H3050 (יָהּ - LORD)]
1. seen of Jah
2. Morijah, a hill in Israel
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
Moriah
Or Moriyah {mo-ree-yaw'}; from ra'ah and Yahh; seen of Jah; Morijah, a hill in Palestine -- Moriah.
see HEBREW ra'ah
see HEBREW Yahh
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originof uncertain derivation
Definitiona mountain where Isaac was to be sacrificed
NASB TranslationMoriah (2).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
,
Genesis 22:2 (E), place for sacrificing Isaac, (text dubious, see Di); 2Chronicles 3:1 site of temple, () (compare Jos
Ant. i.13, l f.)
Topical Lexicon
Geographical Setting Mount Moriah rises on the eastern side of the ancient City of David, forming the northern extension of the ridge that begins at the Kidron Valley and culminates at the summit now crowned by the Temple Mount. Archaeology, biblical topography, and continuous Jewish and Christian tradition converge in identifying the hill as the same place once called the threshing floor of Ornan (Araunah). It stands just north of the ancient Ophel and south of the later hill of Golgotha, overlooking both the Kidron and Tyropoeon valleys.
Biblical Occurrences
Genesis 22:2 records the first mention of the name, when the LORD commands Abraham: “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah”. Centuries later 2 Chronicles 3:1 states: “Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David”. Together these occurrences establish an unbroken sacred history that stretches from the patriarchal age to the united monarchy.
Historical Development
1. Patriarchal Period: The altar Abraham raised for Isaac foreshadowed a substitutionary sacrifice when a ram “caught in a thicket by its horns” (Genesis 22:13) replaced the promised son. The place was memorialized as “Yahweh-yireh” (The LORD Will Provide), anticipating future divine provision on the same mountain.
2. Davidic Era: After the plague brought by David’s census, the king purchased Ornan’s threshing floor and built an altar there (2 Samuel 24:18-25). Divine fire fell from heaven in approval (1 Chronicles 21:26), hallowing the site and preparing it for temple construction.
3. Solomonic Temple: Solomon’s temple arose on the exact crest, embedding the memory of Abraham’s obedience and David’s repentance into Israel’s corporate worship. The Holy of Holies, resting on the bedrock of Moriah, housed the ark of the covenant and the shekinah glory.
4. Second Temple and Herodian Expansion: After the exile, Zerubbabel rebuilt the sanctuary. Herod later enlarged the platform, yet the biblical identification of the mount endured (Ezra 3:1; John 2:20).
Theological and Christological Significance
• Substitutionary Atonement: The ram for Isaac prefigures the ultimate sacrifice of the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29). Hebrews 11:17-19 interprets Abraham’s act as faith in resurrection, a truth fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
• Covenant Continuity: From Abraham to Solomon the same locale anchors the progression of promise—land, seed, blessing—into institutional worship, showing Scripture’s internal coherence.
• Provision and Worship: “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided” (Genesis 22:14) finds its fullest expression in Calvary, situated on the same ridge system, where God provided atonement for the world (Romans 3:25).
Worship and Ministry Applications
• Preaching: Moriah supplies a vivid narrative of obedience, surrender, and divine provision, encouraging believers to trust God’s faithfulness even when trials test ultimate loyalties.
• Prayer: Recognizing that the temple once stood where God first called Himself “provider” fosters confidence in approaching the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16).
• Discipleship: The linkage between family (Abraham-Isaac), nation (David-Solomon), and global redemption (Messiah) offers a paradigm for generational faithfulness and kingdom vision.
Prophetic and Eschatological Horizon
Biblical prophecy anticipates a future worship center in Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:2-4; Zechariah 8:3). Mount Moriah remains central to God’s unfolding plan, serving as a geographical anchor for messianic expectation and the consummation of history (Revelation 21:2-3).
Key Related Passages
Genesis 22:1-19; 2 Samuel 24:15-25; 1 Chronicles 21:18-30; 2 Chronicles 3:1-2; Isaiah 2:2-3; Hebrews 11:17-19; James 2:21-24.
Forms and Transliterations
הַמֹּרִיָּ֑ה הַמּ֣וֹרִיָּ֔ה המוריה המריה ham·mō·rî·yāh ham·mō·w·rî·yāh hammoriYah hammōrîyāh hammōwrîyāh
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