Mephaath
Meph'aath
[some Mepha'ath] (Hebrews Meypha'ath, מֵיפִעִת, prob. splendor; once defectively written מֵפִעִת. Jos 13:18, and once [Kethib] מוֹפִעִת, Jer 48:21; Sept. Μηφάαθ in Josh., Φαάθ v. r. Μαεφλά in Chron. And Μαφάς v. r. Μωφάθ in Jer.), a Levitical (Merarite) city (Jos 21:37; 1Ch 6:79) of the tribe of Reuben (Jos 13:18), doubtless originally (like Heshbon, of which it formed a dependency) in the hands of the Amorites (Nu 21:26), but afterwards belonging to Moab (Jer 48:21); probably situated near Kedemoth and Jahazah, in connection with which it is always mentioned. Eusebius (Onomast.) calls it Mephath (Μηφάθ), and states that it was still occupied by a Roman garrison as a defence against the Arabs of the neighboring desert. As the name implies a conspicuous position, the site may possibly correspond with that of the modern village with ruins on an eminence marked as Umn el- Weled on Van de Velde's Map, east of Medeba. "The extended, and possibly later, form of the name which occurs in Chronicles and Jeremiah, as if Mey Phaath, 'waters of Phaath,' may be, as in other cases, an attempt to fix an intelligible meaning on an archaic or foreign word;" although the fuller form appears to be radical (so both Gesenius and Ftirst, from יָפִע, to glitter, be eminent).
