Ammon

About Ammon

Ammon was an ancient nation located east of the Jordan River, in the region known as the Transjordan. The Ammonites were descendants of Ben-ammi, the son of Lot by his younger daughter (Genesis 19:38). They inhabited the area north of Moab and east of the tribe of Reuben.

Throughout history, the Ammonites were often in conflict with Israel. During the time of the judges, the Ammonites oppressed Israel (Judges 10:6-9) until Jephthah defeated them (Judges 11). Saul fought against the Ammonites and rescued Jabesh-gilead from their siege (1Sa.11.1-11). David, during his reign, also engaged in battles with the Ammonites (2Samuel 10; 12:26-31).

The Ammonite capital city was Rabbah (also known as Rabbath-Ammon), which was besieged and captured by Joab, David's commander (2Sa.12.26-29). The city later became part of the Ammonite territory again. The Ammonites were known for their worship of the god Milcom (1Ki.11.5,33; 2Ki.23.13).

The prophets often spoke against Ammon for their hostility towards Israel and predicted their downfall (Jeremiah 49:1-6; Ezk.21.28-32; 25:1-7)

Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.