Aroer
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1. A town on the bank of the Arnon, on the border of the Amorite kingdom (Deut 4:48; Josh 12:2). It was conquered by the Reubenites and formed part of their territory (Josh 13:16), but was fortified by the Gadites (Num 32:34). Aroer was the starting point of David's census (II Sam 24:5), It was conquered by Hazael, king of Aram (II Kgs 10:32-33) but by the time of Jeremiah was once more a Moabite town (Jer 48:19).
It has been identified with Ara'ir on the River Mujib (Arnon), where remains of Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements, and of a Nabatean settlement, have been found.
2. A town in Gilead on the border of the territory of Gad located near Rabbah of the Ammonites (Josh 13:25). This is possibly the city mentioned in the description of Jephthah's conquest of the Ammonites "from Aroer as far as Minnith" (Judg 11:33).
3. One of the 29 towns assigned to the tribe of Judah (called Adadah in Josh 15:22). After David's victory over the Amalekite raiders, it received a share of the spoil recovered (I Sam 30:26, 28).
The site has been identified with modern Ar'arah, about 12 miles (19 km) south of Beersheba, which, when excavated, revealed the remains of a Judean fortress dating to the 7th century B.C., as well as later settlements – Persian, Hellenistic and Roman.
Concordance
AROER 1:
Num 32:34. Deut 2:36; 3:12; 4:48. Josh 12:2; 13:9, 16. II Sam 24:5. II Kgs 10:33. I Chr 5:8. Is 17:2. Jer 48:19
AROER 2:
Josh 13:25Judg 11:26, 33
AROER 3:
I Sam 30:28
Aroer (ăr'ōər), border town, on the north side of the Arnon River and E of the Dead Sea, the modern Arair (Jordan). Aroer, which changed hands frequently, is mentioned in the Moabite stone.
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Aroer (Hebrew: ערוער, עֲרֹעֵר) is a Biblical town on the north bank of the River Arnon to the east of the Dead Sea, in present-day Jordan.
The town was an ancient Moabite settlement, and is mentioned in the Bible.
"Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon" (Deut. ii. 36), is probably represented by the present ruins of 'Arzā'ir on the north bank of the Arnon ravine, about eleven miles (18 kilometres) from the mouth of the river (Tristram, "Moab," pp. 129-131). The city was still standing in the time of Eusebius. This place was usually described by its situation, in order to distinguish it from other localities of the same name (Deut. iii. 12, iv. 48; Josh. xii. 2, xiii. 9; Judges xi. 26; II Sam. xxiv. 5).
It appears first as having been captured by the Amorite king Sihon from Moab (compare Num. xxi. 26). In the Mesha inscription, l. 26, it is mentioned as having been built by the Moabites. After Israel's attack on the Amorites, it was assigned as part of the territory of the tribe of Reuben, whose southern frontier it marked. This is the city mentioned in Num. xxxii. 34, with the southern towns, as having been built by the children of Gad before the distribution of the land. When Hazael and his Syrians took from Israel the territory across the Jordan, Aroer is given as its southern limit (II Kings x. 33). It is clear, from Jer. xlviii. 19, that the Moabites ultimately recovered it from the Israelites.
According to a prophecy in the writings of Isaiah (chapter 17, verse 2), Aroer will become either forsaken, forsaken and desolate, or forsaken forever, depending on which manuscript is used to derive the English translation. Its geographical surroundings may be included in this prophecy, as well, as the verse reads "the cities of Aroer."
References
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