Bible Dictionary
Pahathmoab
Pahath-moab means “governor of Moab” and became the name of an important family or clan of Judah. Members of this house returned from exile and took part in restoring Jerusalem.
Definition
Pahathmoab means “governor of Moab” and became the name of one of the chief houses of Judah. The supplied material does not identify with certainty the individual who first received the name or the occasion on which it was given. It suggests that the name may have originated from an early Judahite family that exercised dominion in Moab.
Biblical Usage
The name refers to a Judahite house or family rather than to a clearly described individual in the supplied material. Its association is with a family that held authority in or over Moab in early times.
Historical Background
The proposed connection with a Shilonite family of Judah that had dominion in Moab is presented as a conjecture. No certain account of the name’s origin is supplied.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(governor of Moab), head of one of the chief houses of the tribe of Judah. Of the individual or the occasion of his receiving so singular a name nothing is known certainty but as we read in (1 Chronicles 4:22) of a family of Shilonites, of the tribe of Judah, who in very early times “had dominion in Moab,” it may be conjectured that this was the origin of the name.