Debir (Kiriath Sepher)
דְּבִר · קִרְיַת סֵפֶר · “Debir/Kiryat Sefer” on the map
Where was biblical Debir? At Khirbet Rabud, southwest of Hebron, about 45 km southwest of Jerusalem. I mark it probable.
Caleb promised his daughter Achsah to whoever could take Kiryat Sefer. His kinsman Othniel captured it and won the bride. Then Achsah got down from her donkey and talked her father into giving them springs as well.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- Khirbet Rabud, southwest of Hebron
- How sure
- Probable The best case we have, with real alternatives.
- Other names
- Kiriath-sepher, Kiryat Sefer, Kiriath-sannah, Dvir, Devir, Khirbet Rabud, Tel Dvir
- Location
- 31.4314° N, 35.0187° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
The Bible puts Debir firmly in the hill country of Judah, in the same district as Hebron's neighbors, and ties its story closely to Hebron. So it should lie in the hills near Hebron, not down in the lowlands. Its old name, Kiryat Sefer, means "town of the book." Joshua also calls it Kiryat Sannah.
Khirbet Rabud is a large fortified tell in the hills southwest of Hebron, and most scholars now place Debir here. Excavators found a 9th-century BCE city wall, a royal jar handle, and destruction layers usually linked to the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions. That is the profile of a walled town of the kingdom of Judah.
Then there are the springs. Achsah asked for gullot, springs of water, upper and lower. Springs in the valleys near the tell may be those. It's a nice fit, but not a sure one.
No inscription names the site. So this is a strong consensus, not proof.
The older candidate was Tell Beit Mirsim, farther southwest. It was excavated as Debir for years. But it lies in the lowlands, the Shephelah, while Joshua lists Debir among the towns of the hills. Most have dropped it, and the map stays with Rabud.
Visiting today
The tell, with sections of its city wall, lies beside the village of Rabud in the southern Hebron hills. Access is limited and best arranged locally.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
See Debir/Kiryat Sefer on the interactive map →
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