Moreh - an archer, teacher; fruitful. (1.) A Canaanite probably who inhabited the district south of Shechem, between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, and gave his name to the "plain" there (Gen. 12:6). Here at this "plain," or rather (R.V.) "oak," of Moreh, Abraham built his first altar in the land of Palestine; and here the Lord appeared unto him. He afterwards left this plain and moved southward, and pitched his tent between Bethel on the west and Hai on the east (Gen. 12:7, 8).

(Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897)

The phrase, however, is simply an editor's ingenious attempt to make sense of a corrupt passage.

Encyclopaedia Biblica "Moreh")

Translators who consider the obscure elon moreh of Genesis 12:6 to be the name of a locality, render it as "the plains of Moreh". Translators who consider the term to be a sacred tree or grove, often render it "terebinth," a tree notable for its size and age in dry landscapes of the region. The noble terebinth is a member of the pistachio and sumac family. Thus for them, at Shechem, grew the terebinths, elone moreh: "Abraham passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, at the Terebinths of Moreh. The Caananites were then in the land" (Genesis 12:6). This tree or grove, with a name that must mean "teacher," "oracle" was a landmark in the area called the "plains of Moreh" (Deuteronomy 11:30) or the "hill of Moreh" (Judges 7:1)

Genesis 35:4: And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which [were] in their hand, and [all their] earrings which [were] in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which [was] by Shechem. A neutral reading discovers that the tree, oak or not, grew above buried idols and dedicated treasure, the Hebrews remembered, and they associated the burial of these things with the patriarchal age.

The site of Moreh, a hill by which Gideon camped before he attacked the Midianites, is sometimes identified with modern Nebi Dahi, Israel, south of Mount Tabor but this has not been confirmed on the ground..

The name Elon Moreh was given to the first Israeli settlement in the Shomron Hills after the Six-Day War [1] (http://www.shechem.org/elon-moreh/engnew.html).

Further clarification is invited.

External link

• "The Sacred Tree: tree worship in ancient Israel" (http://www.jhom.com/topics/trees/worship.htm)
• Blue Letter Bible website: (http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Gen/12/6.html) Shechem, Moreh
• Locating the tree of Moreh outside the city of Shechem (http://vernerable.tripod.com/shechem.htm)