Debir
DEBIR
A word, an oracle, Jdg 1:11, a place called also KIRJATH-SEPHER, a city of books; and KIRJATH-SANNAH, a city of literature, Jos 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, Jos 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, Jos 13:26 15:7.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Debir
(Heb. Debir’, or , a sanctuary, often applied to the Tabernacle and Temple), the name of two or three places, and also of a man.
1. (, but in Judges and Chron. ; Sept. [ in Jos 15:15; Jos 15:49; Jos 21:15; Jdg 1:1; Jdg 1:11] v. r. ; Vulg. Dabir), a town in the mountains of Judah (Jos 15:49), one of a group of eleven cities to the west of Hebron (Keil, Comment. in loc.), in a parched region (Jdg 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 (Jos 15:15; Jdg 1:11) and KIRJATH-SANNAH (Jos 15:49). (See these names.) The records of its conquest vary, though not very materially. In Jos 15:17, and Jdg 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 (Jos 10:38-39, where the name occurs with , local affixed, Debi’rah, , and this even with prefixed). It was one of the cities given with their suburbs () to the priests (Jos 21:15; 1Ch 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 Jdg 1:14-15).
2. (; Sept. ; Vulg. Debera), a place on the north boundary of Judah, near the Valley of Achor (Jos 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 () of Debir (, to Debir; Sept. v. r. and ; Vulg. Dabir) is named as forming part of the boundary of Gad (Jos 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 ( or ), and lay in the same vicinity (2Sa 9:4-5). Lying in the grazing country on the high downs east of Jordan, the name is doubtless connected with
, dabar, the same word which is the root of Midbar, the wilderness or pasture (see Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 318).
4. (; Sept. v. r. and ; 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 (Jos 10:3; Jos 10:23). B.C. 1613.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Debir (2)
in the mountains of Judah. Lieut. Conder gives an extended argument (Quar. Statement of the “Pal. Explor. Fund,” January 1875, page 49 sq.) in favor of logating this place at the modern ed-Dhoheriyeh, which may be summed up thus:
(1) Both names signify the back, i.e., ridge, of the mountains, on which this place is conspicuous;
(2) it has ancient remains, consisting of cave dwellings, wells, and cisterns; five old roads lead from it, and large stones, at the distance of about three thousand cubits around it, seem to mark the limits of a Levitical city;
(3) there are fine springs in the neighborhood, namely, those of Seil Dilbeh, six miles west of Juttah, which feed a brook that runs several miles. To this identification Tristram (Bible Places, page 61) and Trelawney Saunders (Map of the O.T.) accede.
The argument, however, is rather specious than strong:
(1) The names do not agree in etymology, and the resemblance in meaning is very doubtful;
(2) ‘the ruins show, indeed, an ancient site, but not necessarily the one in question, and the Levitical bounds are particularly dubious;-
(3) the springs are too distant to indicate any special connection with this locality, which, moreover, is farther from Hebron than we should expect.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Debir
oracle town; sanctuary. (1.) One of the eleven cities to the west of Hebron, in the highlands of Judah (Josh. 15:49; Judg. 1:11-15). It was originally one of the towns of the Anakim (Josh. 15:15), and was also called Kirjath-sepher (q.v.) and Kirjath-sannah (49). Caleb, who had conquered and taken possession of the town and district of Hebron (Josh. 14:6-15), offered the hand of his daughter to any one who would successfully lead a party against Debir. Othniel, his younger brother (Judg. 1:13; 3:9), achieved the conquest, and gained Achsah as his wife. She was not satisfied with the portion her father gave her, and as she was proceeding toward her new home, she “lighted from off her ass” and said to him, “Give me a blessing [i.e., a dowry]: for thou hast given me a south land” (Josh. 15:19, A.V.); or, as in the Revised Version, “Thou hast set me in the land of the south”, i.e., in the Negeb, outside the rich valley of Hebron, in the dry and barren land. “Give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs.”
Debir has been identified with the modern Edh-Dhaheriyeh, i.e., “the well on the ridge”, to the south of Hebron.
(2.) A place near the “valley of Achor” (Josh. 15:7), on the north boundary of Judah, between Jerusalem and Jericho.
(3.) The king of Eglon, one of the five Canaanitish kings who were hanged by Joshua (Josh. 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).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Debir (1)
1. In the highlands of Judah, near Hebron. First taken by Joshua (Jos 10:38-39; Jos 11:21; Jos 12:13; Jos 15:49). Formerly Kirjath Sepher (city of the book), or K. Sannah (palm). There is still a Dewirban three miles W. of Hebron. But Debir was S. of Hebron (Jos 15:49); so Van de Velde identifies it with Dilbeh, S.W. of Hebron. Conder (Palestine Exploration) identifies it better with El hoheriyeh, a corruption of the old name Deberah, meaning in Arabic “the village on the ridge.” Exactly at 3,000 (16-inch) cubits on the main S. road a large stone still there marked the bounds assigned outside to Debir as a Levitical city (which also may be the limit of a sabbath day’s journey); and another stone on the W.
At 6 1/2 miles northward are the “upper and lower springs,” which Caleb’s daughter begged for, in the valley Seil el Dilbeh, in all 14 springs divided into three groups; no other such are found in the Judah “south country,” or Negeb; a brook flows through the small gardens for four or five miles (Jdg 1:15; Jos 15:19). Conder states the important discovery that “the list in Joshua 12, which precedes all the other topographical lists, forms the key of the whole system.” They are the 31 royal cities; these divide the country into districts which have natural boundaries, and contain severally one or more of the royal cities. Debir stood, according to Jos 15:19, in “a dry and” (“south land”), therefore Dilbeh near fine springs cannot be the site. Dhoheriyeh is remarkable for its broad rolling downs and fruitful soil; it is truly “a dry land” without a spring.
“Joshua returned to (made a detour to attack) Debir” (Jos 10:38-40.) His direct march after Eglon and Lachish would have been northwards from Hebron to Gilgal, therefore it was probably S.W. of Hebron. The Negeb or “south land” consists of soft, porous, chalky limestone extending from the desert on the E. (the Jeshimon) to ‘Anab and the plain on the W., and from Dilbeh and Yutta on the N. to Beersheba on the S. The dwellings of Dhoheriyeh are mostly caves in the rock, with rude arches carved over doorways; rock excavation is a mark of great antiquity, and is a relic of the troglodyte or primitive Canaanite way of living. It was originally the seat of a king of the Anakim. This people reoccupied it when the Israelite army withdrew and was engaged with the northern Canaanites. Othniel, son of Kenaz, for love of Achsah, Caleb’s daughter, took it again. It was allotted to the priests (Jos 21:15; 1Ch 6:58).
2. A place on the northern bound of Judah, near the valley of Achor (Jos 15:7), between Jericho and Jerusalem (Jos 15:7).
3. Part of the boundary of Gad (Jos 13:26); in the high pastures E. of Jordan, and possibly akin to dabar, Hebrew for a wilderness pasture, Reland identifies it with Lodebar.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Debir (2)
King of Eglon (a town in the lowland of Judah), one of the five hanged by Joshua (Jos 10:3; Jos 10:23).
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Debir
DEBIR.The king of Eglon, who acc. to Jos 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 (Jos 15:15, Jdg 1:11) in the neighbourhood of Hebron, and inhabited by Anakim (Jos 11:21), conquered by Joshua (Jos 10:38; Jos 11:21; Jos 12:13), or more specifically by Othniel (Jos 15:15), assigned as a Levitical city (Jos 21:15, 1Ch 6:58) in the tribe of Judah (Jos 15:49). An alternative name Kiriath-sannah, once recorded (Jos 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 (Jos 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 (Jos 13:26). An alternative reading is Lidebir (cf. Lo-debar).
R. A. S. Macalister.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Debir (1)
deber (, debhr, or , debhir, oracle): King of Eglon, one of the five Amorite kings whose confederation against Israel was overcome and who were killed by Joshua (Jos 10:3).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Debir (2)
deber (, debhr; , Daber): And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir, and fought against it: and he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword … he left none remaining (Jos 10:38, Jos 10:39). In Jos 15:15-17 and Jdg 1:11-13 is an account of how Othniel captured Debir, which beforetime was Kiriath-sepher, and won thereby the hand of Achsah, Caleb’s daughter. In Jos 15:49 Debir is called Kiriath-sannah. It had once been inhabited by the Anakim (Jos 11:21). It was a Levitical city (Jos 21:15; 1Ch 6:58).
1. The Meaning of the Name
(1) Debir is usually accepted as meaning back, but this is doubtful; the word debhr is used to denote the holy of holies (1Ki 6:5). According to Sayce (HDB), the city must have been a sacred one with a well-known temple. Kiriath-sepher is translated town of books, and Sayce and others consider that in all probability there was a great storehouse of clay tablets here; perhaps the name may have been kiryath sopher, town of scribes. Kiriath-sannah (Jos 15:49) is probably a corruption of Kiriath-sepher; the Septuagint has here as in references to the latter , polis grammaton, town of books.
2. The Site
Unfortunately this site, important even if the speculations about the books are doubtful, is still a matter of uncertainty. Edh-Dhaheryeh, some 11 miles Southwest of Hebron, has a good deal of support. It was unquestionably a site of importance in ancient times as the meeting-place of several roads; it is in the Negeb (compare Jdg 1:15), in the neighborhood of the probable site of Anab (Jos 11:21; Jos 15:50); it is a dry site, but there are upper and lower springs about 6 1/2 miles to the North. A more thorough examination of the site than has as yet been undertaken might produce added proofs in favor of this identification. No other suggestion has any great probability. See PEF, III, 402; PEFS, 1875.
(2) Debir, on the border between Judah and Benjamin (Jos 15:7), must have been somewhere East of Jerusalem not far from the modern Jericho road. Thoghgret ed Debr, the pass of the rear, half a mile Southwest of the Talat ed Dumm (see ADUMMIM), close to the so-called, Inn of the Good Samaritan, may be an echo of the name which has lingered in the neighborhood. Many authorities consider that there is no place-name in this reference at all, the text being corrupt.
(3) Debir the Revised Version, margin, Lidebir (Jos 13:26), a town on the border of Gad, near Mahanaim; Ibdar, South of the Yarmuk has been suggested. May be identical with Lo-debar (2Sa 9:4).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Debir
Debir, 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 (Jos 15:15), and Kirjath-sannah (Jos 15:49). 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 (Jos 10:38); 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 (Jos 15:16). The town was afterwards given to the priests (Jos 21:15). 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 (Jos 13:26); the other to Benjamin, though originally in Judah.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Debir
[Debir’]
1. Amorite king of Eglon, slain by Joshua. Jos 10:3; Jos 10:23; Jos 10:26.
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-SEPHER or KIRJATH-SANNAH. Jos 10:38-39; Jos 11:21; Jos 12:13; Jos 15:7; Jos 15:15; Jos 15:49; Jos 21:15; Jdg 1:11-12; 1Ch 6:58. Identified with edh Dhaheriyeh, 31 25′ N, 34 58′ E.
3. Place on the north boundary of Judah, near the valley of Achor. Jos 15:7. Identified by some with Thoghret ed Debr, 31 49′ N, 35 21′ E.
4. Place on the boundary of Gad, mentioned after Mahanaim. Jos 13:26.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Debir
H1688
1. King of Eglon
Jos 10:3-27
2. A town in the mountains of Judah
– Called Kirjath-Sannah, and Kirjath-Sepher, which signifies a city of books
Jos 15:15-16
– Anakim expelled from, by Joshua
Jos 11:21
– Taken by Othniel
Jos 15:15-17; Jos 15:49; Jdg 1:12-13
– Allotted to the Aaronites
Jos 21:15
3. A place near the valley of Achor
Jos 15:7
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Debir
De’bir. (a sanctuary). The name of three places of Palestine.
1. A town in the mountains of Judah, Jos 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”, Jos 15:15; Jdg 1:11 and Kirjath-sannah, “city of palm”. Jos 15:49. It was one of the cities given with their “suburbs” to the priests. Jos 21:15; 1Ch 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.” Jos 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, Jos 13:26, and as apparently not far from Mahanaim.
4. King of Eglon; one of the five kings, hanged by Joshua. Jos 10:3; Jos 10:23. (B.C. 1440).