HEBRON he’ brən (חֶבְרֹ֖ון, league, association). 1. A Levite; third son of Kohath (Exod 6:18; Num 3:19, 27; 1 Chron 6:2, 18; 15:9; 23:12, 19; 24:23). The Hebronites were his descendants, and are mentioned in the census taken in the wilderness of Sinai (Num 3:27) and in a later census in Moab (26:58).

2. Son of Mareshah; father of Korah, Tappuah, Rekem, and Shema (1 Chron 2:43f.).

HEBRON he’ brən (חֶבְרֹ֑ון, association, league; Arab. El Khalîl, “the friend [of God],” Isa 41:8; Jas 2:23), a city about twenty-five m. SSW of Jerusalem at c. 2800 ft. above sea level, situated between two ridges and occupying the valley between, lying somewhat W-NW by ESE, having a population of c. 40,000 (1966).

The main residential part of the city lies on the slopes of the ridges to the E and N with movement to the SW ridge and up the NE slope of Gebel er-Rumeida, site of the ancient tell of Hebron. The present city extends N from the W end of the valley on both sides of a wide street forming the present road to Jerusalem. The city valley itself is the lower end of the Wadi Tuffa’, Valley of the Apples. A large number of springs and wells dot the landscape, making it certain of occupation. Two large pools (birket) with cut stone walls are located within the city area. Apple, plum, fig, pomegranate, apricot, and nut trees are found in profusion; grapes, melons, and several vegetables are produced in profusion from the rich soil of valley and terrace.

The principal landmark in the present city is the Harâm el-Khalîl, the area sacred to the Arabs, covering the ancient cave of Machpelah, and Deir el-Arba’in, the traditional burying place of Ruth and Jesse.

Hebron is listed fifty times in the OT, and five times its earlier name of Kirjath-Arba’ (tetrapolis) is given. It was built (rebuilt?) seven years before Zoan (Gr. Tanis) in Egypt (Num 13:22) c. 1728 b.c. which is the Hyksos period. However, excavations performed in 1964-1966 show that the tell on Gebel er-Rumeida was occupied as early as c. 3300 b.c. and has enjoyed fairly continuous habitation down to the present time (P. Hammond, American Expedition to Hebron [1966]. Preliminary Report, 1), which makes it appear that the building spoken of is a rebuilding, prob. under the Hyksos, since a Middle Bronze II wall some thirty ft. wide has been uncovered at the SE corner of what was an ancient tell, now obscured by grape and olive yard terraces but with masonry outcroppings visible here and there.

Hebron is the later name for the general area (Gen 23:19) in the days of Moses, and included Mamre, the latter traditionally located c. 1 2/3 m. N of Hebron to the E of the Jerusalem road where is the site of a temple built by Constantine to the memory of Abraham’s sojourn there.

The earlier name of Hebron was Kirjath-Arba. Some (J. F. Moore, Judges [ICC], 23; F. Hommel, The Ancient Hebrew Tradition [1897], 232-234) deemed the older name to mean “tetrapolis” on the fact that the form of the name is an anomalous Heb. form, indicative of being a loan word, therefore not a personal name; the similarity to Arba, the father of Anak (cf. Josh 14:15), is a coincidence and here a play on the word. What the four cities were which made up the alliance (viz., Hebron) is not known except for Mamre.

The archeology of Hebron (Gebel er-Rumeida) may be summarized as follows. Evidence of Chalcolithic occupation from as early as c. 3000 b.c. was exposed at the SE angle of what should prove to be the Middle Bronze wall. Not far away under a new house to the S was found evidence of Early Bronze I habitation, but outside the Middle Bronze II wall. The latter was discovered to be c. 30 ft. broad, with a large portion of its southern face exposed to display the usual cyclopean unworked stones. The wall continued at least 330 ft. westward.

Some 197 ft. northward of the Middle Bronze II wall, Iron I occupation was unearthed in a significant house of the monarchy period (11th-10th centuries b.c.). Subsequent seasons will add their data to these periods, and some indications may point to the invasions of Sennacherib and the destruction of the land by Nebuchadrezzar.

The next certain occupation was that of the Hel. period, most striking in the large pottery works with at least two kilns at the westward end below and outside of the Middle Bronze II wall, and on the N side of the tell as well. In this area, a remarkable settling and water storage system from the Byzantine era was unearthed hardly a ft. below terrace level. However, the largest amount of evidence for Byzantine occupation was unearthed below Arab remains at the eastern end of Er-Rumeida some 400 ft. E of the tell. An extensive Byzantine burial ground was uncovered with typical artifacts. A later Moslem palatial house covered part of this area and below its courtyard were found evidences of Rom. occupation (ibid.). All phases of Islamic occupation down to the present era were brought to light.

Abram moved to Hebron after the parting from Lot (Gen 13:18) when Mamre was known as part of Hebron, the latter being the Biblical author’s identification of the place by the later name. Abram built the first altar there to Jahweh. Mamre was named at this time after Mamre the Amorite (Gen 14:13) in league with Abram. In his ninety-ninth year, Yahweh appeared to him in Mamre (18:1ff.) with the two angels. Here “plains” should be ’elon, terebinth, or tall tree of some sort, not an oak. Two ancient oaks, nevertheless, in the vicinity of Hebron have been called the oaks of Mamre traditionally associated with Abram: one near the traditional site of Mamre, and another on the western edge of the Wadi Tuffa in the grounds of the Russian Orthodox Church. However, the word “oak” as used of certain trees in this area is not the oak as such, but another kind, possibly the terebinth. At Mamre, Abraham “presumed” to plead with Yahweh to spare Sodom (18:23), marking him as the “friend of God.”

The name of Hebron was changed to Kirjath-Arba (Gen 23:2; see above), again identified by the later name of Hebron. Here Sarah died and Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah (23:17), which was opposite Mamre, from Ephron the Hitt., one of the Hitt. enclaves in the area. By this time they had replaced the Amorites of chs. 13, 14. There he buried Sarah, and Jacob buried Leah there as Isaac and Rebekah before him (49:31); there Joseph buried Jacob (50:13).

In the days of the Exodus, spies were sent into the land and from the brook Eschol in Hebron took back the wondrous grapes on a staff (Num 13:22-24). For his valor and constancy (cf. Josh 14:9), Caleb was given the area of Hebron (14:13), but the city became a city of refuge. To Hebron, Samson carried off the gates of Gaza (Judg 16:3).

David settled in Hebron after the death of Saul (2 Sam 2:1) and from there ruled over Judah for seven and a half years before being anointed king over all Israel (5:4, 5). After this, he moved to Jerusalem. However, it was from Hebron that Absalom launched his revolt (15:7ff.), perhaps considering he would have stronger support there for his rebellion. In his own days, Rehoboam fortified Hebron, possibly in the prospect of attack from Egypt by Shishak.

The next references to Hebron are from the Maccabean period, for Judas Maccabeus defeated the Edomites who had invaded the Negeb from Edom and established themselves as far N as Hebron. Herod erected the enclosure (Haram) about the ancient burial place of Abraham; the “Herodian” masonry is clearly distinguishable from later work. Pilasters adorn the walls, a distinct peculiarity, and the Muslim work begins above them.

Islam has made the Haram a sacred site because Mohammed is said to have passed through it on his night journey to heaven. It came into Muslim control after the Arab conquests.

In the 19th cent. a.d., Guy le Strange summarized some of the reports of ten previous visitors to Hebron, one of whom, in a.d. 1172, declared he saw the bodies of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In 1168, Hebron was made the seat of a bishopric but reverted to Arab rule in 1187 in Saladin’s conquests. Joseph’s body may have been moved there by 1395 as reported by Ibn Battuta. Cenotaphs within the Haram are reputedly over the resting places of the bodies. History and tradition thus combine in designating this as the cave of Machpelah where Abraham and others were buried.

Bibliography E. Robinson and E. Smith, Biblical Researches in Palestine, II (1841), 431-446; T. Wright, ed., Early Travel in Palestine (1848); F. Hommel, The Ancient Hebrew Tradition (1897), 232-234; L. H. Vincent, “Le Sepulture des Patriarches d’après la Bible,” RB (1929); E. F. Bishop, “Hebron, City of Abraham, the Friend of God,” JBR, XVI, 94-99; C. D. Matthews, Palestine, Mohammedan Holy Land (1949); E. Mader, Mambre (1957).