Debir

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Debir . The king of Eglon, who acc. to   Joshua 10:3 joined other four kings against Joshua, but was defeated and put to death along with his allies at Makkedah.

DEBIR . 1. A town first known as Kiriath-sepher (  Joshua 15:15 ,   Judges 1:11 ) in the neighbourhood of Hebron, and inhabited by Anakim (  Joshua 11:21 ), conquered by Joshua (  Joshua 10:38;   Joshua 11:21;   Joshua 12:13 ), or more specifically by Othniel (  Joshua 15:15 ), assigned as a Levitical city (  Joshua 21:15 ,   1 Chronicles 6:58 ) in the tribe of Judah (  Joshua 15:49 ). An alternative name Kiriath-sannah , once recorded (  Joshua 15:49 ), is probably a corruption of Kiriath-sepher, due primarily to the similarity of p and n in the old Hebrew alphabet. It has been doubtfully identified with edh-Dhaheriyeh near Hebron; till the site can be identified and examined, the attractive speculations based on the apparent meaning of the older name (‘City of Books’ or ‘Scribes’) must be left in the region of theory.

2. A place named in the northern boundary of Judah, near the valley of Achor (  Joshua 15:7 ). The name still survives as the appellation of a place in this neighbourhood.

3. A place, not identified, in the border of the trans-Jordanic territory of Gad (  Joshua 13:26 ). An alternative reading is Lidebir (cf. Lo-debar).

R. A. S. Macalister.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Joshua 10:3Eglon

2. Important city in hill country of tribe of Judah whose exact location is debated by archaeologists and geographers. Joshua annihilated its residents ( Joshua 10:38; compare  Joshua 11:21;  Joshua 12:13 ).  Joshua 15:15 describes Caleb's challenge to Othniel to capture Debir, formerly called Kiriath Sepher. Compare   Judges 1:11 .  Joshua 15:49 gives yet another name, Kiriath Sannah, to Debir. It became a levitical city for the priests (  Joshua 21:15 ). Different scholars locate Debir at tell beit Mirsim, thirteen miles southwest of Hebron; khirbet Tarrameh, five miles southwest of Hebron; and khirbet Rabud, seven and a half miles west of Hebron. It may have been the most important town south of Hebron.

3. A town on the northern border of Judah ( Joshua 15:7 ). This may be located at thoghret ed Debr, the “pass of Debir,” ten miles east of Jerusalem.

4. A town in Gad east of the Jordan given various spellings in the Hebrew Bible: Lidebor (  Joshua 13:26 ); Lwo Debar (  2 Samuel 9:4-5 ); Lo' Debar (  2 Samuel 17:27 ); Lo' Dabar (  Amos 6:13 ). The city may be modern Umm el-Dabar, twelve miles north of Pella. It apparently was near Mahanaim, where first Ish-bosheth and then David while fleeing Absalom, made their headquarters. Some Bible students have suggested a location at tell el-Chamme or khirbet Chamid.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

De'bir. (A Sanctuary). The name of three places of Palestine.

1. A town in the mountains of Judah,  Joshua 15:49, one of a group of eleven cities to the west of Hebron. The earlier name of Debir was Kirjath-sepher, "City Of Book" ,  Joshua 15:15;  Judges 1:11 and Kirjath-sannah, "City Of Palm" .  Joshua 15:49. It was one of the cities given with their "suburbs" to the priests.  Joshua 21:15;  1 Chronicles 6:58.

Debir has not been discovered with certainty in modern times; but about three miles to the west of Hebron is a deep and secluded valley called the Wady Nunkur , enclosed on the north by hills, of which one bears a name certainly suggestive of Debir - Dewir-Ban .

2. A place on the north boundary of Judah, near the "valley of Achor."  Joshua 15:7. A Wady Dabor is marked in Van Deuteronomy Velde's map as close to the south of Neby Musa , at the northwest corner of the Dead Sea.

3. The "border of Debir" is named as forming part of the boundary of Gad,  Joshua 13:26, and as apparently not far from Mahanaim.

4. King of Eglon; one of the five kings, hanged by Joshua.  Joshua 10:3;  Joshua 10:23. (B.C. 1440).

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. Amorite king of Eglon, slain by Joshua.  Joshua 10:3,23,26 .

2. City in the highlands of Judah near Hebron. It was one of the cities of the Amorites that was destroyed and its king slain. Joshua as the leader of Israel is represented as taking it, but in Judges we find that it was actually taken by Othniel, to whom Caleb gave his daughter Achsah in marriage for its capture. It was eventually given to the priests. Its former name was KIRJATH-SEPHERor KIRJATH-SANNAH. Joshua 10:38,39;  Joshua 11:21;  Joshua 12:13;  Joshua 15:7,15,49;  Joshua 21:15;  Judges 1:11,12;  1 Chronicles 6:58 . Identified with edh Dhaheriyeh, 31 49' N, 35 21' E .

4. Place on the boundary of Gad, mentioned after Mahanaim.  Joshua 13:26 .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The king of Eglon, one of the five Canaanitish kings who were hanged by Joshua ( Joshua 10:3,23 ) after the victory at Gibeon. These kings fled and took refuge in a cave at Makkedah. Here they were kept confined till Joshua returned from the pursuit of their discomfited armies, when he caused them to be brought forth, and "Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees" (26).

Copyright Statement These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., DD Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Debir'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/d/debir.html. 1897.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A word, an oracle,  Judges 1:11 , a place called also Kirjath-Sepher a city of books; and Kirjath-Sannah a city of literature,  Joshua 5:15,15 . Judging from the names, it appears to have been some sacred place among the Canaanites, and a repository of their records. It was a city in the south-west part of Judea, conquered from the Anakim by Joshua, but recaptured by the Canaanites, and resubdued by Othniel, and afterwards given to the priests,  Joshua 10:38,39   15:15-17   21:15 . Its site is wholly lost. There was another Debir in Gad, and a third on the border of Benjamin,  Joshua 13:26   15:7 .

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Debir', רְּבַיר or רְּבַר , a sanctuary, often applied to the Tabernacle and Temple), the name of two or three places, and also of a man.

1. ( רְּבַר , but in Judges and Chron. רְּבַיר ; Sept. Δαβίρ [ Δεβίρ in  Joshua 15:15;  Joshua 15:49;  Joshua 21:15;  Judges 1:1;  Judges 1:11] v. r. Δαβείρ ; Vulg. Dabir), a town in the mountains of Judah ( Joshua 15:49), one of a group of eleven cities to the west of Hebron (Keil, Comment. in loc.), in a parched region ( Judges 1:11-15). In the narrative it is mentioned as being the next place which Joshua took after Hebron (10, 38). It was the seat of a Canaanitish king (10, 39; 12:13), and was one of the towns of the Anakim, and from which they were utterly destroyed by Joshua (11, 21). The earlier name of Debir was KIRJATH-SEPHER ( Joshua 15:15;  Judges 1:11) and KIRJATH-SANNAH ( Joshua 15:49). (See these names.) The records of its conquest vary, though not very materially. In  Joshua 15:17, and  Judges 1:13, a detailed account is given of its capture by Othniel, son of Kenaz, for love of Achsah, the daughter of Caleb, while in the general history of the conquest it is ascribed to the great commander himself ( Joshua 10:38-39, where the name occurs with ה , local affixed, Debi'Rah , רְּבַרָה , and this even with prefixed). It was one of the cities given with their "suburbs" ( מַגְרָשׁ ) to the priests ( Joshua 21:15;  1 Chronicles 6:58). Debir does not appear to have been known to Jerome, nor has it been discovered with certainty in modern times. About three miles to the W. of Hebron is a deep and secluded valley called the Wady Nunkur, enclosed on the north by hills of which one bears a name certainly suggestive of Debir-Dewir-ban. (See the narrative of Rosen in the Zeitsch. d. Morgenl. 1857, p. 50-64). The subject, and indeed the whole topography of this district, requires further examination: in the mean time it is perhaps some confirmation of Dr. Rosen's suggestion that a village or site on one of these hills is pointed out as called Isaiah the Arabic name for Joshua. Schwarz (Palest. p. 86) speaks of a Wady Dibir in this direction. Van deVelde (Memoir, p. 307) finds Debir at Dilbeh, six miles S.W. of Hebron, where Stewart (Tent and Khan, p. 223, 224) mentions a spring brought down from a high to a low level by an aqueduct (comp. "the upper and the nether springs" of  Judges 1:14-15).

2. ( רְּבַר ; Sept. Ἐπὶ Τὸ Τέτραρτον Τῆς Φάραγγος Ἀχώρ ; Vulg. Debera ), a place on the north boundary of Judah, "near the "Valley of Achor" ( Joshua 15:7), and therefore somewhere in the complications of hill and ravine behind Jericho. De Saulcy (Narrat. 2:25) attaches the name Thour ed- Dabour to the ruined khan on the right of the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, at which travelers usually stop to refresh; but this is not corroborated by any other traveler, unless it be Schwarz (Palest. p. 95), and he is disposed to identify this site with this and the foregoing place, nor does the locality agree with the scriptural intimations. The name usually given to it by the Arabs is Khan Hatherurah. A Wady Dabor is marked in Van de Velde's map as lying close to the S. of Neby Musa, at the N.W. corner of the Dead Sea (see De Saulcy, Narrat. 2:53, 54), which probably gives a trace of the ancient town as located on the N.E. of this valley. (See Tribe).

3. The "border ( גְּבוּל ) of Debir" ( לַרְבַּר , To Debir ; Sept. Δεβίρ v. r. Δαβείρ and Δαιβών ; Vulg. Dabir) is named as forming part of the boundary of Gad ( Joshua 13:26), and as apparently not far from Mahanaim. Reland (Palaest. p. 734) conjectures that the name may be the same as Lodebar (q.v.), which is written similarly ( לארְבָר or לוֹרְבָר ), and lay in the same vicinity ( 2 Samuel 9:4-5). Lying in the grazing country on the high downs east of Jordan, the name is doubtless connected with

רָּבִר , Dabar , the same word which is the root of Midbar , the wilderness or pasture (see Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 318).

4. ( רְּבַיר ; Sept. Δαρίρ v. r. Δαρείρ and Δαβίν ; Vulg. Dabir ); the king of Eglon, in the low country of Judah; one of the five Canaanitish princes who joined the confederacy summoned by Adonizedek of Jerusalem, and who were defeated, confined in a cave, and at length hanged by Joshua ( Joshua 10:3;  Joshua 10:23). B.C. 1613.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

De´bir, a city in the tribe of Judah, about thirty miles south-west from Jerusalem, and ten miles west of Hebron. It was also called Kirjath-sepher , and Kirjath-sannah . The name Debir means 'a word' or 'oracle,' and is applied to that most secret and separated part of the Temple, or of the most holy place, in which the Ark of the Covenant was placed, and in which responses were given from above the cherubim. From this, coupled with the fact that Kirjath-sepher means 'book-city,' it has been conjectured that Debir was some particularly sacred place or seat of learning among the Canaanites, and a repository of their records. 'It is not indeed probable,' as Professor Bush remarks, 'that writing and books, in our sense of the words, were very common among the Canaanites; but some method of recording events, and a sort of learning, was doubtless cultivated in those regions.' Debir was taken by Joshua but it being afterwards retaken by the Canaanites. Caleb, to whom it was assigned, gave his daughter Achsah in marriage to his nephew Othniel for his bravery in carrying it by storm . The town was afterwards given to the priests . No trace of it is to be found at the present time.

There were two other places called Debir: one belonging to Gad, beyond Jordan the other to Benjamin, though originally in Judah.