This document is about Maon (place name). For other homonyms, please refer to the Maon document.
A region allotted to the tribe of Judah.
Josh 15:55Maon, Carmel, Ziph, and Juttah,
It appears that there was oppression from the local inhabitants during the process of the Israelite people settling after the conquest of Canaan.
Judg 10:12And when the Sidonians and the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, and you cried out to me, I saved you from their hand.
When David fled to this region to escape Saul (king), records indicate that this area was a desolate wilderness.
1 Sam 23:24They arose and went to Ziph before Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of the desert.1 Sam 23:25When David was told that Saul and his men were coming to search for him, David went down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard this, he pursued David into the wilderness of Maon.
Nabal was from this region.
1 Sam 25:2Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; and the man was very rich, for he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.1 Sam 25:3The man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. The woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a Calebite.