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Place · City

Hebron

Also known as Kiriath-arba

Named in 56 verses across 9 books, first in 2 Samuel 2:1.

In these stories

In the Bible

All 21 verses in 2 Samuel, in Bible order. Text from the Berean Standard Bible; verse numbers follow the KJV.

2 Samuel

  • 2 Samuel 2:1

    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.

  • 2 Samuel 2:3

    David also took the men who were with him, each with his household, and they settled in the towns near Hebron.

  • 2 Samuel 2:11

    And the length of time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

  • 2 Samuel 2:32

    Later, 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.

  • 2 Samuel 3:2

    And sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam of Jezreel;

  • 2 Samuel 3:5

    and his sixth was Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah. These sons were born to David in Hebron.

  • 2 Samuel 3:19

    Abner also spoke to the Benjamites and went to Hebron to tell David all that seemed good to Israel and to the whole house of Benjamin.

  • 2 Samuel 3:20

    When Abner and twenty of his men came to David at Hebron, David held a feast for them.

  • 2 Samuel 3:22

    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.

  • 2 Samuel 3:27

    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.

  • 2 Samuel 3:32

    When they buried Abner in Hebron, the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb, and all the people wept.

  • 2 Samuel 4:1

    Now when Ish-bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was dismayed.

  • 2 Samuel 4:8

    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.”

  • 2 Samuel 4:12

    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.

  • 2 Samuel 5:1

    Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.

  • 2 Samuel 5:3

    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.

  • 2 Samuel 5:5

    In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

  • 2 Samuel 5:13

    After he had arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.

  • 2 Samuel 15:7

    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.

  • 2 Samuel 15:9

    “Go in peace,” said the king. So Absalom got up and went to Hebron.

  • 2 Samuel 15:10

    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!’”

Events here

Events the dataset sets at Hebron. Dates follow its Ussher–Jones reckoning (one of several traditional counts), not established history.

  1. c. 1920 BC
    Abraham and Lot SeparateGenesis 13:1–18
  2. c. 1055 BC
    Reign of David2 Samuel 2:1–24:25

Dictionary

From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), as attached to this record by Theographic. Its geography and “modern” descriptions date from the 1890s. Easton wrote in 1897, and some of his views are now debated.

Read Easton’s entry

A city in the south end of the valley of Eshcol, about midway between Jerusalem and Beersheba, from which it is distant about 20 miles in a straight line. It was built “seven years before Zoan in Egypt” (Gen. 13:18; Num. 13:22). It still exists under the same name, and is one of the most ancient cities in the world. Its earlier name was Kirjath-arba (Gen. 23:2; Josh. 14:15; 15:3). But “Hebron would appear to have been the original name of the city, and it was not till after Abraham’s stay there that it received the name Kirjath-arba, who [i.e., Arba] was not the founder but the conqueror of the city, having led thither the tribe of the Anakim, to which he belonged. It retained this name till it came into the possession of Caleb, when the Israelites restored the original name Hebron” (Keil, Com.). The name of this city does not occur in any of the prophets or in the New Testament. It is found about forty times in the Old. It was the favorite home of Abraham. Here he pitched his tent under the oaks of Mamre, by which name it came afterwards to be known; and here Sarah died, and was buried in the cave of Machpelah (Gen. 23:17-20), which he bought from Ephron the Hittite. From this place the patriarch departed for Egypt by way of Beersheba (37:14; 46:1). It was taken by Joshua and given to Caleb (Josh. 10:36, 37; 12:10; 14:13). It became a Levitical city and a city of refuge (20:7; 21:11). When David became king of Judah this was his royal residence, and he resided here for seven and a half years (2 Sam. 5:5); and here he was anointed as king over all Israel (2 Sam. 2:1-4, 11; 1 Kings 2:11). It became the residence also of the rebellious Absalom (2 Sam. 15:10), who probably expected to find his chief support in the tribe of Judah, now called el-Khulil.

In one part of the modern city is a great mosque, which is built over the grave of Machpelah. The first European who was permitted to enter this mosque was the Prince of Wales in 1862. It was also visited by the Marquis of Bute in 1866, and by the late Emperor Frederick of Germany (then Crown-Prince of Prussia) in 1869.

One of the largest oaks in Palestine is found in the valley of Eshcol, about 3 miles north of the town. It is supposed by some to be the tree under which Abraham pitched his tent, and is called “Abraham’s oak.”

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