Editing Moab (section)

==Etymology==
The etymology of the word Moab is uncertain. The earliest [[Biblical gloss|gloss]] is found in the [[Koine Greek]] [[Septuagint]] ({{bibleverse|Genesis|19:37}}) which explains the name, in obvious allusion to the account of Moab's parentage, as ἐκ τοῦ πατρός μου ("from my father"). Other etymologies which have been proposed regard it as a corruption of "seed of a father", or as a participial form from "to desire", thus connoting "the desirable (land)".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dearman |first=J. Andrew |title=Studies in the Mesha Inscription and Moab |publisher=Scholars Press |year=1989 |isbn=9781555403577 |location=Atlanta |pages=1}}</ref>

[[Rashi]] explains the word ''Mo'ab'' to mean "from the father", since ''ab'' in Hebrew and Arabic and other Semitic languages means "father". He writes that as a result of the immodesty of Moab's name, God did not command the [[Israelites]] to refrain from inflicting pain upon the Moabites in the manner in which he did with regard to the [[Ammon]]ites. [[Fritz Hommel]] regards ''Moab'' as an abbreviation of ''Immo-ab'' = "his mother is his father".<ref>{{Cite book |title=Verhandlungen des Zwölften Internationalen Orientalisten-Congresses |page=261 |last=Leyden |year=1904}}</ref>