Beth-peor

Beth-peor (meaning: house of Peor or temple of Baal-peor) was a place in Moab on the east side of the Jordan, opposite Jericho, in the territory later assigned to Reuben. Its name identifies it as a cultic site associated with Baal-peor, the local manifestation of Baal worshipped on Mount Peor, and the town's religious character gives it particular significance in the narrative of Israel's wilderness period.

Beth-peor is most notable as the location near which Moses delivered his final addresses to Israel recorded in Deuteronomy: in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Moab. It is also the region where Moses died and was buried in an unknown location, with the text noting his burial place was in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor. The proximity to the site of Baal-peor's worship makes the selection of this region for Moses's final ministry and burial site a theologically charged detail: the liberator who had led Israel through the temptation of Baal-peor spoke his last words and was buried in its shadow.