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Zeboim

Easton's Bible Dictionary

1

Gazelles or roes.

2

One of the “five cities of the plain” of Sodom, generally coupled with Admah (Gen 10:19; 14:2; Deut 29:23; Hos 11:8). It had a king of its own (Shemeber), and was therefore a place of some importance. It was destroyed along with the other cities of the plain.

3

A valley or rugged glen somewhere near Gibeah in Benjamin (1 Sam 13:18). It was probably the ravine now bearing the name Wady Shakh-ed-Dub’a, or “ravine of the hyena,” north of Jericho.

4

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

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ze-bo'-im ((1) tsebho`im; Seboeim (Neh 11:34); (2) ge ha-tsebho`im; Gai ten Samein (1 Sam 13:18)):

(1) A Benjamite town mentioned as between HADID (which see) and NEBALLAT (which see), and therefore in the maritime plain near Lydda; the site is lost (Neh 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 Sam 13:18). There are several valleys with names derived from the hyena, so common in these parts. There is a small branch valley called Shakked dab`a, "ravine of the hyenas," North of the Wady kelt (Grove), a, Wady abu dab`a, "valley of the father of hyenas, which joins the Wady kelt from the South (Marti), and a large and well-known Wady dab`a, "valley of hyenas," which runs parallel with the Wady kelt, some 3 miles farther South, and ends at the Dead Sea. The first of these, which apparently leads to Mukhmas itself, seems the most probable. See Conder's Handbook, 241.

E. W. G. Masterman

See also

Place Valley of Zeboim (1 Sam 13,18) Place Zeboiim (1 Mos 10,19) Place Zeboim (Neh 11,34)

Kilde: Easton's Bible Dictionary (M.G. Easton, 1897) og International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (red. James Orr, 1915/1939), public domain. Translated into Danish with AI and not yet proofread (fully or partially). Links to people and places: Theographic Bible Metadata (CC BY-SA 4.0).