Chephirah

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Chephirah (‘village,’   Joshua 9:17;   Joshua 18:26 ,   Ezra 2:25 ,   Nehemiah 7:29 ). One of the four Hivite cities which made peace with the Hebrews; re-peopled after the Captivity, having belonged to Benjamin; called in 1Es 5:19 Caphira . Now Kefîreh S.W. of Gibeon.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Chephirah ( Ke-Fî'Rah ), Village. One of the Gibeonite towns.  Joshua 9:17, which was afterwards assigned to Benjamin.  Joshua 18:26; see  Ezra 2:25;  Nehemiah 7:29. It is identical with the modern Kefir.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

One of Gibeon's four cities ( Joshua 9:17), afterward belonging to Benjamin ( Joshua 18:26). The men of C. returned with Zerubbabel from Babylon ( Ezra 2:25;  Nehemiah 7:29). Now Kefir , on the W. of Benjamin, near Ajalon ( Jalo ).

Morrish Bible Dictionary

City of the Benjamites, which once belonged to the Gibeonites, whose people returned with Zerubbabel.  Joshua 9:17;  Joshua 18:26;  Ezra 2:25;  Nehemiah 7:29 . Identified with Kefireh, 31 50' N, 35 6' E .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Chephi'rah. (The Hamlet). One of the four cities of the Gibeonites,  Joshua 9:17, named, afterwards, among the towns of Benjamin.  Ezra 2:25;  Nehemiah 7:29.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Joshua 9:17 Joshua 18:26 Ezra 2:25

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Hebrews in Joshua always with the art. hak-Kephirah ´ , הִכְּפַרָה , The Village, Sept. Κεφιρά ; but in Ezra Καφαρά , Nehemiah Καφερά v. r. Καφιρά ), one of the four cities of the Gibeonitish Hivites with whom Joshua made the league ( Joshua 9:17; comp.  Joshua 9:7); assigned to the tribe of Benjamin (18:26), and occupied by the remnant of the same tribe after the Captivity ( Ezra 2:25;  Nehemiah 7:29). Schwarz (Palest. p. 127) thinks it is one of "the villages (Kephirim, כְּפַרַים ) in the plain of Ono" ( Nehemiah 6:2). The Samaritan Version, at  Genesis 13:3, renders Hai (Ai) by Kephrah ( כפרה ); but this cannot be Chephirah, since both Ai and it are mentioned together in Joshua 9 (comp. 3 with 17), and in the lists of Ezra and Nehemiah already quoted. Dr. Robinson seems to have discovered it under the scarcely altered name of Kef '''''Î''''' R (Biblioth. Sacra, 1853, p. 124), in the mountain country on the western confines of Benjamin, about two miles east of Ajalon (Later Bib. Res. p. 146). The "extensive site called Keferrut," suggested by Thomson (Land And Book, 2:304), is too far N.W. The same objection applies to another ruined village, el-Kefir, laid down in this direction on Van de Velde's Map.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ke - fı̄´ra ( הכּפירה , ha - kephı̄rāh  ; Codex Vaticanus, Καφειρά , Kapheirá (Josh 9); Codex Alexandrinus has Chepheirá , Codex Vaticanus has καὶ Φειρά , kaı́ Pheirá (Josh 18)): One of the cities of the Hivites who by guile made alliance with Israel ( Joshua 9:17 ). It was in the lot of Benjamin ( Joshua 18:26 ), and was reoccupied after the return from Babylon ( Ezra 2:25;  Nehemiah 7:29 ). It is represented by the modern Kefı̄reh , to the Southwest of Gibeon, and North of Ḳaryat el - ‛Anab . It stands on high ground, with many ancient remains.