Mount Moriah

Mount Moriah is a site in ancient Israel mentioned twice in the Old Testament. In Genesis, God told Abraham, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”[1] The phrase "land of Moriah" indicates the area where the city of Jerusalem now stands. There are several hills in this area, so the binding of Isaac was not necessarily at the same site as the Temple Mount or the Dome of the Rock.

According to Chronicles, Solomon built a temple on Mount Moriah: "Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite."[2] The plateau of the hill was later expanded by King Herod of Judea, Emperor Hadrian of Rome, and others to create the modern Temple Mount.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Genesis 22:2 (ESV).
2. ↑ 2Ch 3:1.