Bible Dictionary
Moriah
Moriah was the region where Abraham was commanded to offer Isaac and where Solomon later built the temple in Jerusalem. It is therefore closely associated with sacrifice, worship, and God’s covenant purposes.
Definition
Moriah was the land or hill associated with Abraham’s offering of Isaac and with Solomon’s temple. It was probably one of the hills of Jerusalem, where the temple was built on the site of the threshing-floor of Ornan or Araunah.
Biblical Usage
Abraham went to the land of Moriah to offer Isaac. Later David built an altar there, and Solomon built the temple there, making Moriah closely associated with sacrifice and worship.
Historical Background
Moriah is usually included in the temple hill or Zion area, northeast of Zion and separated from it by the Tyropoean valley. The site has also been associated with the area now covered by the Dome of the Rock.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
The chosen of Jehovah. Some contend that Mount Gerizim is meant, but most probably we are to regard this as one of the hills of Jerusalem. Here Solomon’s temple was built, on the spot that had been the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite (2 Sam. 24:24, 25; 2 Chr. 3:1). It is usually included in Zion, to the north-east of which it lay, and from which it was separated by the Tyropoean valley. This was “the land of Moriah” to which Abraham went to offer up his son Isaac (Gen. 22:2). It has been supposed that the highest point of the temple hill, which is now covered by the Mohammedan Kubbetes-Sakhrah, or “Dome of the Rock,” is the actual site of Araunah’s threshing-floor. Here also, one thousand years after Abraham, David built an altar and offered sacrifices to God. (See JERUSALEM; NUMBERING THE PEOPLE.)
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(chosen by Jehovah).