Sheth

1 A form of Seth, the name of the third son of Adam (Gen 4:25). 2 A word usually taken as a proper noun referring to a group of people (“sons of Sheth”) associated with the Moabites (Num 24:17). However, it is likely that the word is a (deliberately?) corrupted form of the Hebrew word for “tumult” used to describe the warlike nature of the Moabites (thus, “sons of Sheth” means “sons of tumult”; cf. Jer 48:45). Since Sheth is a form of Seth (1 above), this may be a wordplay that identifies the Moabites as distant kinsmen of the Israelites while at the same time condemning their aggression against them (Num 22:1-4).