Vineyards, Plain of The
Vineyards, Plain Of The (אָבֵל כּרָמַים ; Sept. Ε᾿βελχαρμείν v.r. Α᾿βὲλ ἀμεπελώνων ; Vulg. Abel quae est vineis consita), a place mentioned only in Jg 11:33; possibly now represented by a ruin bearing the name of Beit el-Kerm "house of the vine" to the north of Kerak (De Saulcy, Narr. 1, 353), if the Aroer named in the same passage is the place of that name on the Arnon (W. Mojeb). It is, however, by no means certain; and, indeed, the probability is that the Ammonites, with the instinct of a nomadic or semi- nomadic people, betook themselves, when attacked, not to the civilized and cultivated country of Moab (where Beit el Kerm is situated), but to the spreading deserts towards the east, where they could disperse themselves after the ,usual tactics of such tribes. —Smith. SEE ABEL-CERAMIM.
