Maon
마온
Named at 1 Samuel 23:24, where David and his men are “in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert”. At 23:25 David goes down to the rock, and stays in the wilderness of Maon; when Saul hears that, he pursues David in the wilderness of Maon. 1 Samuel 25:2 says, “There was a man in Maon whose possessions were in Carmel”, and 25:3 gives the man’s name as Nabal.
Direct relationships 3
Open in the full graphCollected relationship evidence
Source-backed narrative relations; not independent historical verification. Legacy dates and coordinates are outside this review.
Collection & rightsSource evidence (3)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- 1SA 23:19–24, engwebp
19Then the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, “Doesn’t David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert?
20Now therefore, O king, come down. According to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part will be to deliver him up into the king’s hand.”
21Saul said, “You are blessed by the LORD, for you have had compassion on me.
22Please go make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who has seen him there; for I have been told that he is very cunning.
23See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides himself; and come again to me with certainty, and I will go with you. It shall happen, if he is in the land, that I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”
24They arose, and went to Ziph before Saul; but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert.
- 1SA 23:25–29, engwebp
25Saul and his men went to seek him. When David was told, he went down to the rock, and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard that, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon.
26Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain; and David hurried to get away for fear of Saul, for Saul and his men surrounded David and his men to take them.
27But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid on the land!”
28So Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines. Therefore they called that place Sela Hammahlekoth.
29David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En Gedi.
- 1SA 25:2–3, engwebp
2There was a man in Maon whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
3Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail. This woman was intelligent and had a beautiful face; but the man was surly and evil in his doings. He was of the house of Caleb.
AI-assisted, human review pending, 2026-09-26
Machine comparison on 2026-10-07: the wording raised none of the 3 rules against the passages this entry cites. No person has read it.
Geographic sources & candidates
Matched to OpenBible.info’s “Maon” by name and 1 shared verse. The coordinate of its leading identification, Tel Main (confidence 1000 of 1000), is adopted as a sourced approximation: not verified here, and not the place of any particular event.
AI-assisted source review; human approval pending, 2026-09-29
- Tel Main
OpenBible.info confidence 1000 of 1000 (current scholarship)
31.40945, 35.13384
OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, “Maon” (CC BY 4.0)
Original editorial notes; linked source texts retain their own rights. Candidate lists are not exhaustive.
All 3 relationships: AI-assisted, human review pending
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Narrated location (3) — The Ziphites come up to Saul to Gibeah and tell where David hides, Sela Hammahlekoth, where Saul returns from pursuing David, Nabal of Maon shears his sheep in Carmel
A relationship with an event rests on the passages the event cites: each event’s page has them.
Verses tagged with this entry
Names in the World English Bible text that carry this entry’s tag. They are carried over from the tags on the Korean Revised Version, which are matched by name inside chapters that already have collected evidence, and a verse where the English says “he” carries none. All await human review. They are a separate list from the source passages above. An empty list does not mean the entry is absent from the text.
They arose, and went to Ziph before Saul; but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert.
Saul and his men went to seek him. When David was told, he went down to the rock, and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard that, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon.
There was a man in Maon whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats; and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
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[Bibliadatum entry report] Entry: Maon (place-maon) Address: https://bibliadatum.org/en/wiki/place/maon Current wording: Named at 1 Samuel 23:24, where David and his men are “in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert”. At 23:25 David goes down to the rock, and stays in the wilderness of Maon; when Saul hears that, he pursues David in the wilderness of Maon. 1 Samuel 25:2 says, “There was a man in Maon whose possessions were in Carmel”, and 25:3 gives the man’s name as Nabal. Cited evidence: 1SA 23:19–24, engwebp / 1SA 23:25–29, engwebp / 1SA 25:2–3, engwebp Review state: ai-assisted / human-review-pending What looks wrong: (not written yet) --- This collection records what the text says and does not settle interpretation. A report about a reading that divides opinion may be registered as an unresolved issue rather than corrected.