Hebrew word · H2327

חוֹבָה

chovah

Hobah

A place name found only here in the Bible. Its meaning and location are uncertain.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Hobah = "hiding place"

a city north of Damascus to which Abraham pursued the kings who had pillaged Sodom

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 Genesis 14:15

Range of meaning

A place name found only here in the Bible. Its meaning and location are uncertain.

Against the English

All English versions transliterate it (Hobah, Hoba).

Used elsewhere in the period

Many scholars link it with the district called Upe/Ube (Apu) around Damascus in the Amarna letters (14th century BC) and Egyptian texts, though the spellings don't match exactly. Some have pointed to a site called Hoba north of Damascus. The Genesis Apocryphon replaces it with Helbon, a known place north of Damascus. Josephus (Antiquities 1.10.1) says the pursuit reached a place near Damascus.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 14:15 חוֹבָ֔ה Hobah

    During the night, Abram divided his forces and routed Chedorlaomer’s army, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.

    Here: A place name found only here in the Bible. Where it was is uncertain. The verse places it in the Damascus region, on its north side.

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