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DEBIR

(Heb. dĕḇîr)

(PLACE)

(also LIDEBIR, LO-DEBAR)

1. A city in the southern hill country of Judah, cited in the Joshua conquest narrative (Josh. 10:38-39). It has been identified tentatively with Khirbet Rabûd (1515.0933), 13 km. (ca. 8 mi.) SSW of Hebron. The site was first suggested by Kurt Galling, and excavations were led by Moshe Kochavi in 1968-69, during which they unearthed the only large Late Bronze Age (LB IIA) city in the Hebron hills dating to the 14th and 13th centuries b.c. Ample cisterns and the nearby upper and lower wells of Bir ʿAlaqa accord with the account of Achsah, daughter of Caleb (Josh. 15:15-19 = Judg. 1:11-15). Previously the site had been identified with Tell Beit Mirsim (William F. Albright) and Khirbet Tarrameh.

Earlier names for the site were Kiriath-sepher (Josh. 15:15) and Kiriath-sannah (v. 49). After conquering the city, Joshua is said to have destroyed the remnant of the Anakim of Debir (11:21).

Bibliography. M. Kochavi, “Rabud, Khirbet,” NEAEHL 4:1252.

2. A Gadite city in the Gilead region N of Pella (Josh. 13:26; 2 Sam. 9:4-13).

The name is written Lidebir in Josh. 13:26 and Lo-debar in 2 Sam. 9:5. Jonathan’s family fled there after the Israelites under Saul were defeated in the lower Jezreel Valley and the slopes of Mt. Gilboa. Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s crippled son, was brought by David from Lo-debar to reside with the royal household in Jerusalem. Modern Umm el-Dabar (207219), 18 km. (11 mi.) N of Pella (Tabaqat al-Faḥl), may preserve the original name and location of the ancient city.

3. A city along Judah’s northern border with Benjamin. It was located between Jerusalem and the Jordan River, above the Valley of Achor and near Gilgal (Josh. 15:7).

R. Dennis Cole

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

DEBIR

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)