Eusebius and the LXX have trouble with Hebrew double names, so we find Achelgaei, Nachal Gaei.
The location is vague and uncertain in both the Bible and Onomasticon . Areopolis was an autonomous city in the Roman Province of Arabia. According to Procopius' Buildings V, viii, 1, under Constantine this became Palestina Tertia. It is probably Ar Moab, the present Rabba (cf. below and K. 124:15)." Ptolemaus has it 65 miles from Philadelphia (16:15). This identity goes back at least to the third century A.D. The Madaba Map has an Aia at that location. In K. 36:24 it is identified with Ariel and is a pagan shrine (cf. Jeremiah 49:3; LXX 30:3).
There are a number of texts where the Greek has alternate names. The most familiar is Ashdod Azōtos (K. 20:18, K. 22:11). But also K. 36:7,24; K. 48:11; K. 25:27; K. 58:3; K. 64:6; K. 90:10; K. 132:8; K. 160:19; cf. K. 40:7 Babel.
18. Arnōn. Numbers 21:13; K. 10:15; L. 235:11.
This entry is not an original. It is a river or wadi, not a city. It is called a topos , and locus , "place." It has been considered the southern border of Transjordan. Jerome's Commentary on Isaiah 16:2 notes, "it is the border between Amorites and Moabites." Procopius 857A paraphrases the Onomasticon : "formerly the land of the Amorites. The Arnon is said to be the border separating it from the Moabites" (cf. Numbers 21:23ff).
Areopolis is called a city of Arabia or Moab (cf. above and K. 124:15). Arabia is the name of the Roman province established in 106 A.D. whose southern border was the Dead Sea and the Arnon. Other Nabatean towns given autonomy in Provenance Arabia were Esbus, Medeba, Charachmoab and Petra. In 200 A.D. Septimus Severus gave it municipal status. According to the Tabula Peutinger it is 62 miles from Philadelphia. There was a Roman garrison at Areopolis according to Notitia Dignitatum (81:17) and other posts around the wadi ( Notitia Dignitatum 81:34, 82:35). A polis such as Areopolis may by its very name include a general region with all its dependent villages.
The name Arnon has obviously survived to the fourth century. In Interpretation of Hebrew Names Jerome translates "heap of gloom or praise"(78).
19. Ar. Numbers 21:15; K. 10:25; L. 235:21.
Textual variant Êr (Greek as in LXX)
This place is related to the previous two entries. If it, as well as "deserted place" could mean "ruin," then perhaps there was a rebuilding by the time of Jerome. The word oppidum usually is not an indication of size of city or village but, if Pliny is to be believed it is a Roman settlement around a shrine or sanctuary, or it is a heavily fortified town (see Appendix I).
Jerome in Hebrew Names translated, "he stirred up or wakefulness" (78).
20. Aēsimōn. Numbers 21:20; K. 10:27; L. 235:23.
Textual variants: Aisimōn and Asēnōn (Greek).
The third in a series of four "places" at this point in Eusebius.
21. Abelsattein (Abelsattim). Numbers 33:49; K. 10:28; L. 235:24.
LXX has Abetsatteim and Setim.
Eusebius does not locate this "place" very well. Many feel it is the Byzantine Abile at Kh Kefraim but Eusebius does not make this identity. Jerome in his Commentary on Joel 3:18 suggests it is near Livias (K. 48:15) 6 miles from Dead Sea. In Hebrew Names he translates mourning of the bank or of the shore" (79).
The difference in direction may not be as great as it seems. Eusebius has west and Jerome south, but most directions refer to a quadrant, so southwest could fit into either quadrant. Possibly out of order or suspect.
22. Azōr (or Iazer). Numbers 21:24; K. 12:1; L. 235:25.
Textual variant for contemporary sites, Zazer (Latin).
A confused text is probably responsible for this entry. The relation of this with Iazēr (K. 4:13) is unclear. For biblical Hazor see 20:1, a different site.
Probably Ptolemy's (V, 15,6) list of a Gazōros is the same town as K. 12:3 and K. 104:13. Josephus Antiquities. XII, 8, 1 has Jazōros or Jazorōs. A village eight miles west of Philadelphia is Kh sar (note 10 miles in K. 104: 13).
On Amman or Philadelphia see K. 16:15 below.
In Hebrew Names , Jerome has 5 entries which could pertain, based on "hearing" or "helping" (82, 94, 125, 127, and 134).
23. Aroēr. Deuteronomy 3:12, 4:48; K. 12:5; L. 235:29.