Hobah

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A place north of Damascus, visited by Abraham, Genesis 14:15; now unknown.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Genesis 14:15

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

N. of Damascus. To it Abram pursued Chedorlaomer (Genesis 14:15). It means a hiding place. Tradition makes Masjad Ibrahim, "the prayer place of Damascus," at the village of Burzeh, three miles N. of Damascus, the scene of his thanksgiving to God after routing the kings. Nicolaus of Damascus makes him to have reigned there (Josephus, Ant. 1:7, section 2). The Jews make Jobar near Burzeh to be Hobah.

Holman Bible Dictionary

Genesis 14:15

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

HOBAH . The place to which, acc. to Genesis 14:16 , Abraham pursued the defeated army of Chedorlaomer. It is described as ‘on the left hand ( i.e. ‘to the north’) of Damascus.’ It is identified, with considerable probability, with the modern Hoba , 20 hours N. of Damascus.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Place 'on the left hand,' that is, to the north of Damascus, to which Abraham pursued the kings who had captured Lot. Genesis 14:15 . The Muslims point out Burzeh, 33 32' N, 36 8' E , as the ancient Hobah; but the Jews prefer Jobar , about two miles N.E. of Damascus.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Ho'bah. (hiding-place). The place to which Abraham pursued the kings, who had pillaged Sodom. Genesis 14:15. It was situated, "to the north of Damascus."

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

hō´ba ( חובה , ḥōbhāh ): A place "on the left hand," i.e. to the North of "Damascus," to which Abraham pursued the defeated army of Chedorlaomer ( Genesis 14:15 ). It is probably identical with the modern Ḥoba , about 60 miles Northwest of Damascus.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Chobah', חוֹבָה , hiding-place; Sept.. Χοβά ), a place to the northward of Damascus (לְדִמֶּשֶׂק מַשְּׂמאֹל, lit. on the left), whither Abraham pursued the kings who had taken Lot captive (Genesis 14:15); perhaps the Chobai or Choba mentioned in the Apocrypha. (Χωβαϊ v, Judith 15:4; Χωβά, 4:4). Eusebius (Onomast. s.v. Choba) confounds this place with Cocaba, the seat of the Ebionites in the 4th century; and Burckhardt- (Syria, p. 312) found a village called Kokab, probably the same, which, however, lies south of Damascus. This is apparently also the village Hoba, visited in the year 1666 by Ferd. von Troilo, who says, "It lies a quarter of a (German) mile north from the town, on the left hand. Near the city of Damascus is seen a large hill, where the patriarch Abraham overtook and defeated the army of the four kings. There formerly dwelt here a sect of Jews, converted to the (Christian) faith, who were called Ebionites; but at present the place is inhabited by a great number of Moors (Arabs) who have a mosque. In the neighborhood is a cave, in which the patriarch offered to the Divine Majesty his thanksgivings for the victory" (Travels, p. 584). On the other hand, Reland thinks of a castle called Caucab, mentioned by Edrisi as being on the lake of Tiberias (Palaest. p. 727). "Josephus mentions a tradition concerning Abraham which he takes from Nicolaus of Damascus: ‘ Abraham reigned at Damascus, being a foreigner… and his name is still famous in the country; and there is shown a village called from him The Habitation of Abraham (Ant. 1, 7, 2).' It is remarkable that in the village of Burzeh, three miles north of Damascus, there is a oely held in high veneration by the Mohammedans, and called after the name of the patriarch, Masjad Abraham, ‘ the prayer-place of Abraham.' The tradition attached to it is that here Abraham offered thanks to God after the total discomfiture of the Eastern kings. Behind the wely is a cleft in the rock, in which another tradition represents the patriarch as taking refuge on one occasion from the giant Nimrod. It is remarkable: that the word Hobah signifies ‘ a hiding-place.' (See: Ritter, Syria, 4:312; Wilson, Lands of Bible, 2, 331.) The Jews of Damascus affirm that the village of Jobar, not far from Burzeh, is the Hobah of Scripture. They have a synagogue there dedicated to Elijah, to which they make frequent pilgrimages (see Porter, Handbook for Syria and Palestine, p. 491, 492; Stanley, Jewish. Church, 1, 481)."