Bible Dictionary
Zeboim
Zeboim was the name of several places: a city of the plain destroyed with Sodom, a valley near Gibeah, and a Benjamite town inhabited after the exile.
Definition
Zeboim was the name of several places: a city of the plain associated with Sodom, a valley near Gibeah in Benjamin, and a Benjamite town inhabited after the exile. The name means “gazelles.”
Biblical Usage
The city of the plain had its own king and was destroyed with the other cities of the plain. The Valley of Zeboim was a route taken by Philistines from Michmash. The Benjamite town appears in Nehemiah’s postexilic list.
Historical Background
The Valley of Zeboim is understood as the “valley of hyenas.” Several valleys near Jericho and the wilderness have names connected with hyenas, but the exact identification remains uncertain. The Benjamite town’s site is lost.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Gazelles or roes. (1.) 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. (2.) 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. (3.) A place mentioned only in Neh. 11:34, inhabited by the Benjamites after the Captivity.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(gazelles).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>ze-bo'-im ((1) tsebho`im; Seboeim (Ne 11:34); (2) ge ha-tsebho`im; Gai ten Samein (1Sa 13:18)):</p><p>(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 (Ne 11:34).</p><p>(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" (1Sa 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.</p><p>E. W. G. Masterman</p>