sheba Summary and Overview

an oath, seven. (1.) Heb. shebha, the son of Raamah (Gen. 10:7), whose descendants settled with those of Dedan on the Persian Gulf. (2.) Heb. id. A son of Joktan (Gen. 10:28), probably the founder of the Sabeans. (3.) Heb. id. A son of Jokshan, who was a son of Abraham by Keturah (Gen. 25:3). (4.) Heb. id. A kingdom in Arabia Felix. Sheba, in fact, was Saba in Southern Arabia, the Sabaeans of classical geography, who carried on the trade in spices with the other peoples of the ancient world. They were Semites, speaking one of the two main dialects of Himyaritic or South Arabic. Sheba had become a monarchy before the days of Solomon. Its queen brought him gold, spices, and precious stones (1 Kings 10:1-13). She is called by our Lord the "queen of the south" (Matt. 12:42). (5.) Heb. shebha', "seven" or "an oak." A town of Simeon (Josh. 19:2). (6.) Heb. id. A "son of Bichri," of the family of Becher, the son of Benjamin, and thus of the stem from which Saul was descended (2 Sam. 20:1-22). When David was returning to Jerusalem after the defeat of Absalom, a strife arose between the ten tribes and the tribe of Judah, because the latter took the lead in bringing back the king. Sheba took advantage of this state of things, and raised the standard of revolt, proclaiming, "We have no part in David." With his followers he proceeded northward. David seeing it necessary to check this revolt, ordered Abishai to take the gibborim, "mighty men," and the body-guard and such troops as he could gather, and pursue Sheba. Joab joined the expedition, and having treacherously put Amasa to death, assumed the command of the army. Sheba took refuge in Abel-Bethmaachah, a fortified town some miles north of Lake Merom. While Joab was engaged in laying siege to this city, Sheba's head was, at the instigation of a "wise woman" who had held a parley with him from the city walls, thrown over the wall to the besiegers, and thus the revolt came to an end.

SHE'BA (an oath). 1. The son of Bichri, a Benjamite who revolted from David, was pursued by Joab and beheaded in the fortress of Abel-beth-maachah. 2 Sam 20:1-22. 2. A Gadite chief. 1 Chr 5:13.

from whom the country derives its name. 1. Grandson of Cush and son of Raamah (Genesis 10:7). 2. Son of Joktan (Genesis 10:28). 3. Grandson of Abraham by Keturah; son of Jokshan (Genesis 25:3). This is an instance of the intermingling of the early descendants of Shem and Ham. SHEBA was a wealthy region of Arabia Felix or Yemen (1 Kings 10:1; Psalm 72:10; Psalm 72:15, where "Sheba" is Joktanite, "SEBA" Cushite ; Job 1:15, the Keturahite Sheba, Job 6:19; Isaiah 60:6; Jeremiah 6:20; Ezekiel 27:22, it was the Sheba son of Raamah and grandson of Cush that carried on the Indian traffic with Israel in conjunction with the Keturahite Sheba (Joel 3:8). The Sabeans were famed for myrrh, frankincense, and cinnamon, their chief city being Mariaba (Strabo 16:777), named also Seba, the one being the city the other the fortress (near the famous dyke el 'Arim, built to store water and avert mountain torrents.) This was afterward the celebrated Himyeritic Arab kingdom, called from the ruling family of Himyer. The Cushite Sheba and his brother Dedan settled along the Persian gulf, but afterward were combined with the Joktanite Sabean kingdom. (See RAAMAH.) The buildings of Mariaba or Seba are of massive masonry, and evidently of Cushite origin. The Joktanites (Semitics) were the early colonists of southern Arabia. The Himyerites Strabo first mentions in the expedition of A. Gellius (24 B.C.); the Arabs however place Himyer high in their list. Himyer may mean "the red man," related to the "Red Sea" and "Phoenician." The kingdom probably was called "Sheba" (Seba means "turned red"), its reigning family Himyer; the old name was preserved until the founding of the modern Himyeritic kingdom about a century B.C. "The queen of Sheba" (1 Kings 10:1-2; 1 Kings 10:10) ruled in Arabia, not Ethiopia, as the Abyssinian church allege; Sheba being in the extreme Sheba of Arabia, "she came (a distance of nearly a thousand miles) from the uttermost parts of the earth," as then known, to hear the wisdom of Solomon (Matthew 12:42; Luke 11:31). Four principal Arab peoples are named: the Sabeans, Atramitae or Hadramaut, Katabeni or Kahtan or Joktan, and the Mimaei. SHEBA. A town of Simeon (Joshua 19:2). Possibly the SHEMA of Joshua 15:26. Now Saawe (Knobel). Or Sheba is a transcriber's error, repeating the end of Beer-sheba; for the number of names in Joshua 19:2-6 including Sheba is 14, whereas 13 is the number stated, and in 1 Chronicles 4:28 Sheba is omitted in the list of Simeon. But Conder (Israel Exploration, January 1875) identifies Sheba with Tell el Seba, two miles of Beersheba, and on the line to Moladah (Joshua 19:2); its well is a quarter of a mile W. of it.