Shaalbim

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

SHAALBIM . A town mentioned with Mt. Heres and Aijalon as being occupied by the Amorites ( Judges 1:35 ). It was, with Makaz and Beth-shemesh, in the district of one of Solomon’s commissariat officers ( 1 Kings 4:9 ); and if it be the same place as Shaalabbin, it is mentioned with Aijalon and Beth-shemesh in Joshua 19:42 . It is probably identical with Shaalbon , the home of one of David’s heroes, who is called ‘the Shaalbonite ’ ( 2 Samuel 23:32 , 1 Chronicles 11:33 ). It may perhaps be identified with Selbît , about 8 miles N. of Beth-shemesh. Possibly Shaalbim should be read for Shaalim in 1 Samuel 9:4 .

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("place of foxes or jackals".) The common form for SHAALABBIM (Judges 1:35). Held by the Amorites, but at last reduced to be tributary by the house of Joseph. One of Solomon's commissariat districts (1 Kings 4:9). SHAALBONITE (2 Samuel 23:32) probably means "a native of Shaalbim".

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A town of God, long held by the Amorites, Joshua 19:42; Judges 1:35 , but in the time of Solomon the headquarters of one of his commissaries, 1 Kings 4:9 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

Judges 1:351 Kings 4:92 Samuel 23:32

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Shaalbim', שִׁעֲלְבַי ם , according to Furst = בֵּית שׁוּעִלַי ם, house [i.e. place] offoxes; Sept. Σαλαβίν, Σαλαβείμ, v.r. Θααλαβείν, Βηθαλαμεί, and even αἱ ἀλώπεκες ) occurs in an ancient fragment of history inserted in Judges 1, enumerating the towns of which the original inhabitants of Canaan succeeded in keeping possession after the general conquest. Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim were held against the Danites by the Amorites (Judges 1:35) till, the help of the great tribe of Ephraim being called in, they were at last compelled to succumb. It is mentioned with Aijalon again in Joshua 19:42 (Shaalabbin), and with Bethshemesh both there and in 1 Kings 4:9, in the last passage as making up one of Solomon's commissariat districts.. By Eusebius and Jerome it is mentioned in the Onomasticon (s.v. ‘ Selab') as a large village in the district of Sebaste (i.e. Samaria), and as then called Selaba. But this is not very intelligible, for, except in the statement of Josephus (Ant. 5, 1, 22) that the allotment of the Danites extended as far north as Dor (Tantura), there is nothing to lead to the belief that any of their towns were at all near Samaria (see Schwarz, Palest. p. 140), while the persistent enumeration of Shaalbim with Aijalon and Beth-shemesh, the sites of both which are known with tolerable certainty as within a radius of fifteen miles west of Jerusalem, is strongly against it. It is also at variance with another notice of Jerome, in his commentary on Ezekiel 48:22, where he mentions the ‘ towers of Ailon and Selebi and Emmaus-Nicopolis,' in connection with Joppa, as three landmarks of the tribe of Dan." Shaalbim may possiblv be identified with the modern village Beit Sira, a village a little north of Yalo, on the south side of Wady Suleiman; or, perhaps (so Furst), rather with Selbit, a ruined village north of the wady (Robinson, Researches, 1852, 3, 144, notes). (See Shaalbonite).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

shā́ - al´bim ( שׁעלבּים , sha‛albı̄m  ; Codex Vaticanus Βηθαλαμεί , Bēthalameı́  ; Codex Alexandrinus Σαλαβείμ , Salabeı́m , in Joshua, Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus Θαλαβείμ , Thalabeı́m ): When the Amorites had forced the children of Dan into the mountain they came and dwelt in Mt. Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, where, it appears, they were made tributary to the house of Joseph ( Judges 1:35 ). In the time of Solomon it was included in the administrative district presided over by Ben-deker, along with Makaz, Beth-shemesh and Elon-beth-hanan (1 Kings 4:9 ). Beth-shemesh is the same as Ir-shemesh (Joshua 19:42 ). Shaalbim is probably only another name of Shaalabbin . One of David's mighty men is called Eliahba the Shaalbonite . This presumes the existence of a town called Shaalbon (2 Samuel 23:32; 1 Chronicles 11:33 ), which again is probably identical with Shaalbim. Eusebius (in Onomasticon ) identifies it with Salaba, a large village in the district of Sebaste (Samaria), which apparently Eusebius and Jerome thought to be in the territory of Dan. It seems, however, too far to the North. Jerome in his commentary on Ezek 48 speaks of the towers of Aijalon and Selebi and Emmaus. Conder would identify Selebi with Selbı̄ṭ , 3 miles Northwest of Aijalon ( Yālo ), and 8 miles North of Bethshemesh. This would suit for Shaalbim, as far as position is concerned; but it is difficult to account for the heavy ṭ (Hebrew letter ,ט tēth ) in the name, if derived from Shaalbim.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Shaal´bim (city of foxes), called also Shaal-bin, a city of the tribe of Dan , but of which it could not for a long while dispossess the Amorites . In the time of Solomon it was the station of one of the twelve officers or intendants appointed to regulate the collection of provisions for the court . One of David's worthies belonged to this place .