Hebron

Hebron, also known as Kiriath-arba, was a significant city in Judah, associated with the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and later became a Levitical city and a city of refuge.

The name Hebron means “society; friendship”

PlaceOld Testament10 books58 verses

Summary

A location first mentioned at Genesis 13:18; referred to as Hebron (חֶבְרוֹן) or Kiriath-arba (קִרְיַת אַרְבַּע).

Location

Identified as
Tel Rumeida
Certainty
Widely agreed (100% of scholarship)
Coordinates
31.525° N, 35.102° E
Hebron
See it on the map of biblical places

Events

Dates are approximate

Glossary entries

Hebron (Place) Kiriath-Arba Kirjath-Arba

Alternative names

Mentions

Includes 1 verse that refer to Hebron without naming it.

  1. Genesis 13:18חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the Oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.
  2. Genesis 23:2חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron; קִרְיַת אַרְבַּע · Kiriath-arba
    She died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went out to mourn and to weep for her.
  3. Genesis 23:19חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
  4. Genesis 35:27חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron; קִרְיַת אַרְבַּע · Kiriath-arba
    Jacob returned to his father Isaac at Mamre, near Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.
  5. Numbers 13:22חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.
  6. Joshua 10:3חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    Therefore Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying,
  7. Joshua 10:5חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    So the five kings of the Amorites—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon—joined forces and advanced with all their armies. They camped before Gibeon and made war against it.
  8. Joshua 10:23חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    So they brought the five kings out of the cave—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon.
  9. Joshua 10:36חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and fought against it.
  10. Joshua 10:37Referred to, not named
    They captured it and put to the sword its king, all its villages, and all the people. Joshua left no survivors, just as he had done at Eglon; he devoted to destruction Hebron and everyone in it.
  11. Joshua 10:39חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    And they captured Debir, its king, and all its villages. They put them to the sword and devoted to destruction everyone in the city, leaving no survivors. Joshua did to Debir and its king as he had done to Hebron and as he had done to Libnah and its king.
  12. Joshua 11:21חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    At that time Joshua proceeded to eliminate the Anakim from the hill country of Hebron, Debir, and Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction, along with their cities.
  13. Joshua 12:10חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    …the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one;
  14. Joshua 14:13חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as his inheritance.
  15. Joshua 14:14חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    Therefore Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite as an inheritance to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel.
  16. Joshua 14:15חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron; קִרְיַת אַרְבַּע · Kiriath-arba
    (Hebron used to be called Kiriath-arba, after Arba, the greatest man among the Anakim.) Then the land had rest from war.
  17. Joshua 15:13חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron; קִרְיַת אַרְבַּע · Kiriath-arba
    According to the LORD’s command to him, Joshua gave Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion among the sons of Judah—Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.)
  18. Joshua 15:54חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron; קִרְיַת אַרְבַּע · Kiriath-arba
    Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior—nine cities, along with their villages.
  19. Joshua 20:7חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron; קִרְיַת אַרְבַּע · Kiriath-arba
    So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
  20. Joshua 21:11חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron; קִרְיַת אַרְבַּע · Kiriath-arba
    They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.)
  21. Joshua 21:13חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave these cities, together with their pasturelands: Hebron, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah,
  22. Judges 1:10חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron; קִרְיַת אַרְבַּע · Kiriath-arba
    Judah also marched against the Canaanites who were living in Hebron (formerly known as Kiriath-arba), and they struck down Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.
  23. Judges 1:20חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    Just as Moses had promised, Judah gave Hebron to Caleb, who drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak.
  24. Judges 16:3חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    But Samson lay there only until midnight, when he got up, took hold of the doors of the city gate and both gateposts, and pulled them out, bar and all. Then he put them on his shoulders and took them to the top of the mountain overlooking Hebron.
  25. 1 Samuel 30:31חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    …and to those in Hebron and in all the places where David and his men had roamed.
  26. 2 Samuel 2:1חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    Some time later, David inquired of the LORD, “Should I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” “Go up,” the LORD answered. Then David asked, “Where should I go?” “To Hebron,” replied the LORD.
  27. 2 Samuel 2:3חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    David also took the men who were with him, each with his household, and they settled in the towns near Hebron.
  28. 2 Samuel 2:11חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    And the length of time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.
  29. 2 Samuel 2:32חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    And they took Asahel and buried him in his father’s tomb in Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night and reached Hebron at daybreak.
  30. 2 Samuel 3:2חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    And sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam of Jezreel;
  31. 2 Samuel 3:5חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    …and his sixth was Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These sons were born to David in Hebron.
  32. 2 Samuel 3:19חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    Abner also spoke to the Benjamites. Then he went to Hebron to tell David all that seemed good to Israel and to the whole house of Benjamin.
  33. 2 Samuel 3:20חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    When Abner and twenty of his men came to David at Hebron, David held a feast for them.
  34. 2 Samuel 3:22חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    Just then David’s soldiers and Joab returned from a raid, bringing with them a great plunder. But Abner was not with David in Hebron, because David had sent him on his way in peace.
  35. 2 Samuel 3:27חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.
  36. 2 Samuel 3:32חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    When they buried Abner in Hebron, the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb, and all the people wept.
  37. 2 Samuel 4:1חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    Now when Ish-bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was dismayed.
  38. 2 Samuel 4:8חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth son of Saul, your enemy who sought your life. Today the LORD has granted vengeance to my lord the king against Saul and his offspring.”
  39. 2 Samuel 4:12חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    So David commanded his young men, and they killed Rechab and Baanah. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron, but they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.
  40. 2 Samuel 5:1חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.
  41. 2 Samuel 5:3חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where King David made with them a covenant before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel.
  42. 2 Samuel 5:5חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.
  43. 2 Samuel 5:13חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    After he had arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.
  44. 2 Samuel 15:7חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    After four years had passed, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron to fulfill a vow I have made to the LORD.
  45. 2 Samuel 15:9חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    “Go in peace,” said the king. So Absalom got up and went to Hebron.
  46. 2 Samuel 15:10חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    Then Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’”
  47. 1 Kings 2:11חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
  48. 1 Chronicles 3:1חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    These were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: The firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam of Jezreel; the second was Daniel by Abigail of Carmel;
  49. 1 Chronicles 3:4חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    These six sons were born to David in Hebron, where he reigned seven years and six months. And David reigned in Jerusalem thirty-three years,
  50. 1 Chronicles 6:55חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    They were given Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding pasturelands.
  51. 1 Chronicles 6:57חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    So the descendants of Aaron were given Hebron (a city of refuge), Libnah, Jattir, Eshtemoa,
  52. 1 Chronicles 11:1חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.
  53. 1 Chronicles 11:3חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where David made a covenant with them before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD through Samuel.
  54. 1 Chronicles 12:23חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    Now these are the numbers of men armed for battle who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul’s kingdom over to him, in accordance with the word of the LORD:
  55. 1 Chronicles 12:38חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    All these men of war, arrayed for battle, came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. And all the rest of the Israelites were of one mind to make David king.
  56. 1 Chronicles 29:27חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
  57. 2 Chronicles 11:10חֶבְרוֹן · Hebron
    Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, the fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin.
  58. Nehemiah 11:25קִרְיַת אַרְבַּע · Kiriath-arba
    As for the villages with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba, Dibon, Jekabzeel, and their villages;