Debir

A Biblical word, dvir pronounced [dviʁ] (דְּבִיר) may refer to:

Names

• Debir King of Eglon, a Canaanite king of Eglon, slain by Joshua. (Joshua 10) Aided by miracles, Joshua's army routed the Canaanite military, forcing Debir and the other kings to seek refuge in a cave. There they were trapped until later executed.

Places

• A royal Canaanite city, also known as Kiriath-Sepher (Judges 1:11) and Kiriath-Sannah. (Joshua 15:49) It became a Kohanic city. (Joshua 21:9) Its location is unclear, but today it is commonly identified with Khirbet Rabud southwest of Hebron. Conder and Kitchener thought Debir, mentioned in Joshua 15:49 was present Ad-Dhahiriya.[1]
• A site mentioned to be in the low plain of Achor. (Joshua 15:7) Though its exact location is not known, the name may have survived in Thogheret ed-Debr, southwest of Jericho.
• A location in Gilead, at the border of the Tribe of Gad, commonly believed to be the same as Lo-Debar. (Joshua 13:26) Some identify the place with Umm ed-Dabar, 16 km (9.9 mi) south of Gennesareth Sea.

Religion

• The dvir (דְּבִיר), the innermost part of the Holy of Holies in Solomon's Temple.

In apocryphal literature

According to the ancient apocryphal Lives of the Prophets, after the death of Zechariah Ben Jehoiada, the priests of the Temple could no more, as before, see the apparitions of the angels of the Lord, nor could make divinations with the Ephod, nor give responses from the Debir.

References

1. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 402

See also

• Tell Beit Mirsim

Bibliography

• Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1883). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. 3. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.