- the wilderness:
- Maon, from which the adjoining mountainous district derived its name, was city in the most southern parts of the tribe of Judah, and a neighbouring town to Carmel. Hence Nabal ("And [there was] a manª in Maon,ª whose possessionsª [were] in Carmel;ª and the manª [was] veryª great,ª and he had threeª thousandª sheep,ª and a thousandª goats:ª and he was¹ shearingª°¹ his sheepª in Carmel.ª" {1Sm 25:2}) is described as a man of Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and though he might dwell generally in Maon, yet he is styled Nabal the Carmelite, from the place where his estate lay. Calmet supposes it to be the city Minois, which Eusebius places in the vicinity of Gaza; and the Moenoemi Castrum, which the Theodosian code places near Beersheba.
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