Q. Did the Nabataeans build Petra?

A. I did some Bible/Concordance research on Petra. As you know Petra itself is not mentioned in the Bible by that name.

It just so happened that when I learned of Petra about four years ago I was so fascinated by it that I did some research on it, and every time I learn something new I add it to my studies.

Petra is known in the Bible by these names: Seir, Edom, Selah and one time in 2 Kings 14:7 as Joktheel.

I do believe the Nabataeans lived in Petra but even the documentary that I saw on The History Channel put them in charge of the city around the time of the Romans (give or take a few hundred years).

Here is what I dug up from the Bible and Concordance and a couple of Bible dictionaries about Petra. I am sure you have done this too, but I thought it was interesting enough to do the research anyway.

I am not pushing the Kenites/Giants thing all that much, it is a subject of interest and research, but as far as anyone being saved, I believe the "false Jews" are physical others believe the "false Jews" are spiritual. As long as people watch for the antichrist to come before the true Jesus and know that "someone" will receive him, things should be OK.

I believe Jesus wanted us to understand this, but he would not want us to force it on anyone.

Three World Ages would be of great help to the average Bible reader, it would help to understand God's plan. But many, in fact most that I have encountered so far reject it. Nobody seems to notice in Isaiah that God said he did not create the world in vain, but in Genesis 1:1-2 it is vain and destroyed and covered with water. That is OK, too, I feel obligated to share it, but it is up to the individual to believe it or not.

There is so much to understand in the Bible, so much that we don't know, will never know and certainly never be able to prove, we are in the time of grace now and I do not believe God will prove His existance until after the antichrist appears. But we see the works of God every day, his belssings come to all that believe in Him daily.

I am sorry about the length of the Bible clips and Strong's clips. I did not bother to explain any of it because I believe the clips speak for themselves.

I tend to believe that the caves of Petra were there before Esau ever arrived in Seir. The Edomites may very well have expanded the cave network and made them look nicer but some far older tribe carved the original caves (in my opinion). There may have been two peoples called Horites, those in Genesis 14:8 and of the tribes of Esau Gen. 36:29 below.

Genesis 14:6
6 And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto El-paran, which is by the wilderness.
KJV

Ho’rim and Ho’rites (descendants of Hori), the aboriginal inhabitants of Mount Seir, Gen. 14:6, and probably allied to the Emim and Rephaim. The name Horite appears to have been derived from their habits as “Cave-dwellers.” Their excavated dwellings are still found in hundreds of the sandstone cliffs and mountains of Edom, and especially in Petra. Smith’s Bible Dictionary

HO'RITE (ho'rit; Heb. Hori, plural, Horim). Biblical References. In the Pentateuch are a number of references to an enigmatic people called Horites. These people were defeated by Chedorlaomer and the invading Mesopotamian army (Genesis 14:6). They were governed by chieftains (36:29-30) and are described as having been exterminated or destroyed by Esau's descendants (Deuteronomy 2:12,22). This unknown people used to be thought of as a local and restricted group of cave dwellers, the name Horites being thought of as derived from Heb. hor, "cave." Other than this alleged etymological description, the Horites remained completely obscure, not appearing in the Bible outside the Pentateuch or in extrabiblical literature. (from The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (c) 1988.)

Strong's:
Horites: OT:2752
Choriy (kho-ree'); from OT:2356; cave-dweller or troglodyte; a Chorite or aboriginal Idumaean:
KJV - Horims, Horites.

Genesis 36:6-10
6 And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance, which he had got in the land of Canaan; and went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob.

7 For their riches were more than that they might dwell together; and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle.

8 Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.

9 And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir:

10 These are the names of Esau's sons; Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Bashemath the wife of Esau.
KJV

Genesis 36:19-31
19 These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.

29 These are the dukes that came of the Horites; duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah,

30 Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, duke Dishan: these are the dukes that came of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir.

31 And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.
KJV

Genesis 25:30
30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
KJV

Genesis 32:3
3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
KJV

Genesis 36:21
21 And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these are the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.
KJV

2 Kings 14:6-7
6 But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

7 He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day.
KJV