Sheba in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE

she'-ba (shebha'; Saba): (1) Sheba and Dedan are the two sons of Raamah son of Cush (Gen 10:7). (2) Sheba and Dedan are the two sons of Jokshan the son of Abraham and Keturah (Gen 25:3). (3) Sheba is a son of Joktan son of Eber who was a descendant of Shem (Gen 10:28). From the above statements it would appear that Sheba was the name of an Arab tribe, and consequently of Semitic descent. The fact that Sheba and Dedan are represented as Cushite (Gen 10:7) would point to a migration of part of these tribes to Ethiopia, and similarly their derivation from Abraham (Gen 25:3) would indicate that some families were located in Syria. In point of fact Sheba was a South-Arabian or Joktanite tribe (Gen 10:28), and his own name and that of some of his brothers (e.g. Hazarmaveth = Hadhramaut) are place-names in Southern Arabia...