Debir

The name Debir belongs to three distinct entities in the conquest narratives: a Canaanite king of Eglon who joins the Amorite coalition against Gibeon, a fortified town in the hill-country of Judah (also known as Kiriath-sepher and Kiriath-sannah) that falls to Othniel and is later allotted to the Aaronite priests, and a place near the valley of Achor on the northern border of Judah's territory.

Debir, King of Eglon

In Joshua's southern campaign, Debir is the personal name of one of five Amorite kings who unite against Gibeon after the Gibeonites' covenant with Israel. Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem summons four allies — "Hoham king of Hebron, and to Piram king of Jarmuth, and to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon" (Jos 10:3) — and the coalition encamps against Gibeon (Jos 10:5).

Joshua marches up from Gilgal with assurance from Yahweh ("Don't fear them: for I have delivered them into your hands; not a man of them will stand before you," Jos 10:8) and routs the coalition, with Yahweh casting down hailstones from heaven (Jos 10:11). The five kings flee and hide in a cave at Makkedah; Joshua orders the mouth sealed and the pursuit pressed home (Jos 10:16-19). When the slaughter is complete, the kings are brought out: "the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon" (Jos 10:23). Joshua has the chiefs of his men of war put their feet on the necks of the kings and tells them, "Don't be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage: for thus will Yahweh do to all your⁺ enemies against whom you⁺ fight" (Jos 10:25). The five are then executed and hanged on trees until evening, then cast back into the cave that had hidden them, the mouth sealed with great stones "to this very day" (Jos 10:26-27).

The Town in the Hill-Country of Judah

A separate Debir is a fortified town in the southern hill-country of Judah. Joshua's southern sweep takes him from Eglon to Hebron and then on: "as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to its king; as he had done also to Libnah, and to its king" (Jos 10:39).

The town carries earlier names. The conquest narrative explains that "he went up from there against the inhabitants of Debir: now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher" (Jos 15:15). The town-list of Judah preserves a third designation: "and Dannah, and Kiriath-sannah (the same is Debir)" (Jos 15:49).

The Anakim Cut Off

The hill-country of Judah was occupied by the giant Anakim. When the spies came south, "they went up by the South, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Anak, were there" (Nu 13:22). Joshua's later campaign extends explicitly to Debir: "And Joshua came at that time, and cut off the Anakim from the hill-country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill-country of Judah, and from all the hill-country of Israel: Joshua completely destroyed them with their cities" (Jos 11:21).

This pairing of Hebron and Debir reflects their geographic and tactical proximity. Hebron itself is given to Caleb as inheritance: "Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day; because he wholly followed Yahweh, the God of Israel" (Jos 14:14). The portion is restated in the tribal allotment: "And to Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a portion among the sons of Judah, according to the [Speech] of Yahweh to Joshua, even Kiriath-arba, [which Arba was] the father of Anak (the same is Hebron)" (Jos 15:13).

Othniel and Achsah

From this Calebite base the campaign advances on Debir. Caleb issues a challenge: "He who strikes Kiriath-sepher, and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife" (Jos 15:16). The challenge is met by his nephew: "And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife" (Jos 15:17). Judges repeats both the offer — "And Caleb said, He who strikes Kiriath-sepher, and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife" (Jud 1:12) — and the result, with Othniel identified more closely as "the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother" (Jud 1:13).

The same Othniel will reappear as Israel's first deliverer-judge: "And when the sons of Israel cried to Yahweh, Yahweh raised up a savior to the sons of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother" (Jud 3:9). The taking of Debir is therefore the introduction of the man who will later judge Israel.

The Sirach summary of the conquest era frames Caleb (and by extension this whole hill-country sweep) as a vindicated act of faith: "And he gave strength to Caleb, And to old age it stood by him, To cause him to tread upon the high places of the land; And also his seed obtained a heritage" (Sir 46:9).

Allotted to the Aaronites

After the conquest, Debir is reassigned. In the inventory of priestly cities given out of Judah and Simeon, Debir appears among the towns "with its suburbs" — pasturelands attached for the priestly families: "and Holon with its suburbs, and Debir with its suburbs" (Jos 21:15). The town that had been a stronghold of the Anakim becomes a settlement for the sons of Aaron.

Debir near the Valley of Achor

The third Debir is a boundary marker, not a town. In the description of Judah's northern border, the line runs along the Achor depression: "and the border went up to Debir from the valley of Achor, and so northward, looking toward Gilgal, that is across from the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the river; and the border passed along to the waters of En-shemesh, and the goings out of it were at En-rogel" (Jos 15:7).

The valley of Achor itself is named earlier in Joshua, where Achan and his stolen spoil were buried under a heap of stones: "And they raised over him a great heap of stones, to this day; and Yahweh turned from the fierceness of his anger. Therefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, to this day" (Jos 7:26). The same valley becomes, in the prophets, a figure of restored hope and pasture: "And I will give her her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope" (Hos 2:15); "And Sharon will be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for my people who have sought me" (Isa 65:10). The Debir of Jos 15:7 sits at the head of that valley as a tribal landmark.