Hebrew word · H1688

דְּבִיר

devir

Debir

A place name. As an ordinary noun, devir means the innermost or rear room of a building, used for the back chamber of Solomon's temple (1 Kgs 6). The town was also called Kiriath-sepher ('town of the scroll' or 'town of the scribe') and Kiriath-sannah.

Appears 14 times in 12 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Debir = "sanctuary"

a town in the mountains of Judah west of Hebron and given to the priests and a city of refuge

Also named: qir.yat san.nah (קִרְיַת־סֵ֫פֶר "Kiriath-sannah" H7158)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Joshua 10:38

Range of meaning

A place name. As an ordinary noun, devir means the innermost or rear room of a building, used for the back chamber of Solomon's temple (1 Kgs 6). The town was also called Kiriath-sepher ('town of the scroll' or 'town of the scribe') and Kiriath-sannah.

Against the English

English versions simply write 'Debir'. Nothing is lost in translation, but readers may not realise that the town's identity, location and conquest are discussed in other passages too.

Used elsewhere in the period

Joshua 11:21, 12:13, 15:15–17, 15:49, 21:15; Judges 1:11–15; 1 Chronicles 6:58. Today most scholars place it at Khirbet Rabud, about 12 km southwest of Hebron. That site has Late Bronze Age remains and springs nearby that fit the 'upper and lower pools' of Josh 15:19. The older identification, Tell Beit Mirsim (W. F. Albright), is now less widely held.

Where it appears

Joshua · 11

  1. Joshua 10:3 דְּבִ֥יר Debir

    Therefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying,

    Here: Name of Eglon's ruler. It is spelled the same as the town Debir (Joshua 10:38), but here it is a person. Do not confuse the two.

  2. Joshua 10:38 דְּבִ֑רָה Debir towards

    Finally Joshua and all Israel with him turned toward Debir and fought against it.

    Here: The town name Debir plus the Hebrew ending -ah, which means 'toward'. So: 'Debir-ward'. Debir was a Canaanite town in the hill country southwest of Hebron. It was also called Kiriath-sepher (Josh 15:15) and Kiriath-sannah (15:49).

  3. Joshua 10:39 לִדְבִ֙רָה֙ to Debir <towards>

    And they captured Debir, its king, and all its villages. They put them to the sword and devoted to destruction everyone in the city, leaving no survivors. Joshua did to Debir and its king as he had done to Hebron and as he had done to Libnah and its king.

    Here: "To Debir." The town was also called Kiriath-sepher (15:15). The name is spelled with a directional ending (-ah) even though "to" is already present, which is a frozen form of the name.

  4. Joshua 11:21 דְּבִ֣ר Debir

    At that time Joshua proceeded to eliminate the Anakim from the hill country of Hebron, Debir, and Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction, along with their cities.

    Here: Debir, earlier called Kiriath-sepher (Josh 15:15), southwest of Hebron. Here it's spelled without the usual internal letter yod; the spelling doesn't affect the meaning.

  5. Joshua 12:13 דְּבִר֙ Debir

    the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;

  6. Joshua 13:26 לִדְבִֽר׃ Lo Debar

    the territory from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir;

  7. Joshua 15:7 דְּבִרָה֮ Debir towards

    Then the border went up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, turning north to Gilgal, which faces the Ascent of Adummim south of the ravine. It continued along the waters of En-shemesh and came out at En-rogel.

  8. Joshua 15:15 דְּבִ֑ר דְּבִ֥ר Debir

    From there he marched against the inhabitants of Debir (formerly known as Kiriath-sepher).

  9. Joshua 15:49 דְבִֽר׃ [is] Debir

    Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir),

  10. Joshua 21:15 דְּבִ֖ר Debir

    Holon, Debir,

Judges · 2

  1. Judges 1:11 דְּבִ֑יר דְּבִ֥יר Debir

    From there they marched against the inhabitants of Debir (formerly known as Kiriath-sepher).

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 6:58 דְּבִ֖יר Debir

    Hilen, Debir,

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.