Edom lay south of the Dead Sea, reaching into the mountainous region of Seir, and was settled by the descendants of Esau, brother of Jacob (Israel). The Edomite language was closely related to Hebrew. Mosaic law forbade Israel to abhor an Edomite, “for he is thy brother” (Deuteronomy 23:7), but the two nations were often at war.
Edom is named once in the Book of Mormon, in Nephi’s quotation of Isaiah’s prophecy that Ephraim and Judah, reunited, would turn on their neighbors: they “shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them” (2 Nephi 21:14).