Hebrew word · H7158

קִרְיַת־סֵ֫פֶר

kiryat-

Kiriath-sannah

A place-name: qiryâ "town" + sēper "document, written record, inscription, scroll." It is the older name of Debir (Josh 15:15; Judg 1:11). Josh 15:49 gives another name, Kiriath-sannah, and the Strong's entry covers both.

Appears 10 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Kirjath-sepher or Kirjath-sannah = "city of the book"

a town in the mountains of Judah to the west of Hebron

Another name of de.vir (דְּבִיר "Debir" H1688A)

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 15:16

Range of meaning

A place-name: qiryâ "town" + sēper "document, written record, inscription, scroll." It is the older name of Debir (Josh 15:15; Judg 1:11). Josh 15:49 gives another name, Kiriath-sannah, and the Strong's entry covers both.

Against the English

English versions transliterate it ("Kiriath-sepher," KJV "Kirjath-sepher"). The meaning is left to footnotes.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint translates the name in this passage, roughly "City of Letters/Writings", instead of just transliterating it. Some scholars connect sēper with a scribe or archive. Others suggest it may come from a root meaning "border" or from a different word. The site is debated: Tell Beit Mirsim (proposed by W. F. Albright) or Khirbet Rabud southwest of Hebron (proposed by M. Kochavi, now more widely accepted).

Similar words

Where it appears

Joshua · 6

  1. Joshua 15:15 קִרְיַת־ סֵֽפֶר׃ [was] Kiriath, Sepher

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

  2. Joshua 15:16 קִרְיַת־ סֵ֖פֶר Kiriath, Sepher

    And Caleb said, “To the man who strikes down Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage.”

    Here: "Town (of)", the first half of the place-name. Qiryah is a common word for a town or settlement and appears in several Canaanite place-names (Kiriath-arba, Kiriath-jearim).

  3. Joshua 15:49 וְקִרְיַת־ סַנָּ֖ה and Kiriath, Sannah

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

Judges · 4

  1. Judges 1:11 קִרְיַת־ סֵֽפֶר׃ [was] Kiriath, Sepher

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

  2. Judges 1:12 קִרְיַת־ סֵ֖פֶר Kiriath, Sepher

    And Caleb said, “To the man who strikes down Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage.”

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