HEBRON (Hebr., Hebrhōn “union, league”; Septuagint, Χέβρων).—A city situated in the mountains of Judah, 37 km south of Jerusalem. In ancient times it was called Cariath Arbe (“city of the four”).
The Masoretic tradition (Jos. 15:13) understands Arbe as “the father of the Anakim,” while the Septuagint has “the metropolis of the Anakim”; this has led it commonly to be supposed that they were four confederated cities. St. Jerome (Onomasticon, 84, 10), on the other hand, saw in the name an allusion to the four patriarchs buried in H. The name H. is already mentioned in Gen. 23:2; 35:27, and in Jos. 20:7. It is currently called el-Halil (“the friend,” understood as of God), from the epithet given to Abraham from ancient times, as in Giuiblai, 19:9.
According to Num. 14:23, H. was rebuilt seven years before Tanis, one of the capitals of Lower Egypt. Abraham settled nearby and acquired the cave (v. MAKHPELĀH) as a family tomb. Moses sent the explorers there (Num. 13:23), and when the Israelites, under the leadership of Joshua, occupied Palestine, H. was taken, its king Oham killed, and its population exterminated or dispersed (Jos.
10:3, 36-39; 12:10), and it was then repopulated with Calebites (Jos. 14:12). It subsequently became a city of refuge, and David, who, while being persecuted by Saul, had found shelter there, chose it as his capital, remaining there for seven and a half years (II Sam. 2:1-3:11; 5:1-5; I Reg. 2:11; I Par. 29:27). Absalom made it the center of his revolt against his father (II Sam. 15:7-10), and Roboam refortified II. During the exile it fell into the hands of the Edomites, from whom Judas Maccabeus recovered it (I Mach. 5:65). In the Jewish War it was burned by Cerealis, lieutenant of Titus, and during the Byzantine period it was of little importance. Occupied instead by the Arabs in 634, it became one of their four holy cities because of the memory of Abraham. The Crusaders erected there a Praesidium or Castellum sancti Abrahne, raising it in 1168 to the status of an episcopal see. Returning nineteen years later to Muslim hands, it has remained there to the present day.
The city is situated for the most part in a fertile basin rich in springs. In 1948 it had approximately 20,000 inhabitants, but now it has more, having received a number of refugees from the territories occupied by the Jews. No excavations have been carried out there, but on the hill of er-Rumejdeh the ruins of el-Arba'in can be observed, recalling the ancient name of the city; fragments of Bronze III and Iron II have been found there. Jar stamps bearing “lè-melekh, H.” are known.