Zeboim

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Zebo'im.' (Gazelles).

1. One of the five cities of the "plain" or circle of Jordan. It is mentioned in  Genesis 10:19;  Genesis 14:2;  Genesis 14:8;  Genesis 29:23;  Hosea 11:8, in each, of which passages, it is either coupled with Admah or placed next it in the lists - perhaps represented by Talaa Sebaan , a name attached to extensive ruins on the high ground between the Dead Sea and Kerak . In  Genesis 14:2;  Genesis 14:8, the name is given more correctly, in the Authorized Version, as Zeboiim .

2. The valley of Zeboim, a ravine or gorge, apparently east of Michmash, mentioned only in  1 Samuel 13:18. The road running from Michmash to the east is specified as "the road of the border that looketh to the ravine of Zeboim toward the wilderness." The wilderness is no doubt the district of uncultivated mountain tops and sides which lies between the central district of Benjamin and the Jordan valley. In that very district, there is a wild gorge bearing the name of Shuk Ed-Dubba , Ravine Of The Hyena , "the exact equivalent of Ge Hat-Tsebo'Im ".

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

ZEBOIM . 1 . ‘The ravine of Zebô‘im’ (‘ravine of the hy¿nas’) is named in   1 Samuel 13:18 in describing the route followed by one of the bands of Philistine maranders. It is prob. the Wâdy el-Kelt or one of its branches. The name Wâdy abû Dabâ (‘hyæna gorge’) is still applied to a ravine in this neighbourhood. The same locality appears to be referred to in the Zeboim of   Nehemiah 11:34 .   Nehemiah 11:2 .  Hosea 11:8 . See Zeboiim.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

A place mentioned only in  Nehemiah 11:34 , inhabited by the Benjamites after the Captivity.

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 'Zeboim'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/z/zeboim.html. 1897.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

one of the four cities of the Pentapolis, consumed by fire from heaven,  Genesis 14:2;  Genesis 19:24 . Eusebius and St. Jerom speak of Zeboim as of a city remaining in their time, upon the western shores of the Dead Sea. Consequently, after the time of Lot this city must have been rebuilt near the place where it had stood before. Mention is made of the valley of Zeboim,  1 Samuel 13:18 , and of a city of the same name in the tribe of Benjamin,  Nehemiah 11:34 .

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

1. One of the four royal cities in the vale of Siddim, destroyed by fire from heaven. See Sodom . Eusebius and Jerome mention a town by this name in their day, on the western shore of the Dead sea.

2. A valley and town of the Benjamites, east of Michmash,  1 Samuel 13:18   Nehemiah 11:34 .

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Zeboim ( Ze-Bô'Im ), Hyænas. It was a gorge or ravine apparently east of Mich-mash, and mentioned only In  1 Samuel 13:18. The "wilderness" is the wild tract between the central hills and the valley of the Jordan.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

One of the cities of the plain. ( Genesis 14:2) The word appears to be plural, and probably the place abounded with deer and goats, as the word means.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Nehemiah 11:34 1 Samuel 13:17-18

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

a name which occurs in two distinct forms in the original, denoting different localities.

1. (Heb. Tseboini', צְבֹאַים . gazelles, as often,  Hosea 11:8; or shorter, Tsebo Ï m', צַבֹיַם [marg. צְבוֹיַם ],  Genesis 10:19; or צְבֹיַים [marg. צַבוֹיַם ],  Genesis 14:2;  Genesis 14:8 [A.V. "Zebo Ï m"];  Deuteronomy 29:23; Sept. Σεβωείμ v.r. Σεβοείμ ; Vulg. Zebo '''''Ï''''' M'' ) , one of the five cities destroyed by divine visitation in the vale of Siddim ( Hosea 11:8), mentioned immediately after Admah ( Genesis 10:19;  Deuteronomy 29:23), and ruled over by a separate king, Shemeber ( Genesis 14:2;  Genesis 14:8). De Saulcy finds the site of Zebo Ï m in the Talda Sebaan, a name which he reports as attached to extensive ruins on the high ground between the Dead Sea and Kerak ( Dead Sea, 1, 383); but the position as well as the elevation is improbable, and the ancient spot is most likely beneath the water of the southern bay of the sea. (See Sodom); (See Zoar).

2. (Heb. with the art. Hats-Tsebo '''''Ï''''' M''' הִצַּבֹעַים , the hyenas; Sept. Ζαμαείν v.r. Σαβίμ , Σεβοείμ , etc.; Vulg. Seboimn ) , the name of a valley ( גֵּי ), i.e. a ravine or gorge, apparently east of Michmash, mentioned in  1 Samuel 13:18, where it is described with a curious minuteness, which is unfortunately no longer intelligible. The road running from Michmash to the east is specified as "the road of the border that looketh to the ravine of Zeboim towards the wilderness." The wilderness (midbar) is no doubt the district of uncultivated mountaintops and sides which lies between the central district of Benjamin and the Jordan valley, and here apparently the ravine of Zeboim should be sought. In that very district there is a wild gorge, bearing the name of Shuk ed-Duba, "ravine of the hyena," up which runs the path from Jericho to Mukhmas (Conder, Tent Work in Palest. 3, 16). It is represented on the new Ordnance Map as running for a short distance N.E. of Ain D Û k. The same place or a town adjacent seems to be mentioned in  Nehemiah 11:34 (where it occurs without the art. prefixed)-confounding it, nevertheless, with the Zebo Ï m of Genesis-as occupied after the Captivity. Rabbi Schwarz, however, maintains that the two places are different, and, while locating the valley as above ( Palest. p. 156), he identifies the Zebo Ï m of Nehemiah with "the village Zuba, situated on .a high mount, three English miles west of Jerusalem" (ibid. p. 134). He adds," In [the Talmudical tract] Challah, 4:10 is mentioned the Mount. Zeboim." He doubtless refers to the ruined village Soba, about six miles west of Jerusalem, near Eshtaol; but this has little probability.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

zḗ - bō´ı̄m ((1) צבעים , cebhō‛ı̄m  ; Σεβωείμ , Sebōeı́m (  Nehemiah 11:34 ); (2) הצּבעים גּי , gē hacebhō‛ı̄m  ; Γαὶ τὴν Σαμείν , Gaı́ tḗn Sameı́n ( 1 Samuel 13:18 )):

(1) A B enjamite town mentioned as between Hadid (which see) and Neballat (which see), and therefore in the maritime plain near Lydda; the site is lost ( Nehemiah 11:34 ). (2) The Valley of Zeboim, "the valley of hyenas," one of three companies of the Philistines left their camp at Michmash and "turned the way of the border that looketh down upon the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness" ( 1 Samuel 13:18 ). There are several valleys with names derived from the hyena, so common in these parts. There is a small branch valley called Shakkeḍ ḍab‛ā , "ravine of the hyenas," North of the Wâdy kelt (Grove), a, Wâdy abu ḍab‛ā , "valley of the father of hyenas, which joins the Wâdy kelt from the South (Marti), and a large and well-known Wâdy ḍab‛ā , "valley of hyenas," which runs parallel with the Wâdy kelt , some 3 miles farther South, and ends at the Dead Sea. The first of these, which apparently leads to Mukhmās itself, seems the most probable. See Conder's Handbook, 241.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Zeboim, 1

Zebo´im, a valley and town in the tribe of Benjamin (; ).

Zeboim, 2

Zeboim, a city in the vale of Siddim, destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah (; ; ). [SODOM].