ZEBOIM
I. (Heb. “s’boyim” = “gazelles.”) One of the five cities of the plain (Gen. 10:19). Chedorlaomer defeated his king (Gen. 14:2, 8, 10).
Fire from heaven destroyed it, like the other neighboring cities (Gen. 19:17-29; Deut. 29:23; Hos. 11:8). (See SODOM.) II. (Heb. «s’bo’im» = «hyenas».)
1. Valley of Benjamin, between Michmas and the desert to the east (1 Sam. 13:16-18). This Hebrew name is preserved in modern Arabic: the wadi Abu Diba’ (“father of hyenas”) is a southern tributary of the wadi el-Kelt, north of which a small branch of the valley is called Shakk ed-Diba’ (“ravine of the hyenas”).
2. City that the Benjamites occupied when they returned from exile (Neh. 11:34). This town was located in the hills on the edge of the plain of Sharon, north of Lydda.