HEBRON (Hebr., Hebrôn «unione, lega»; LXX, Xêpêw). — A city situated in the mountains of Judah, 37 km south of Jerusalem. In antiquity it was also called Cariaht Arbe («city of the four»).
The Masoretic tradition (Jos. 15, 13) holds that Arbe was the father of the Anakim, while the Septuagint calls it «the metropolis of the Anakim,» which has led to the common belief that they were from four allied cities. St. Jerome (Onomasticon, 84, 10), however, saw in the name an allusion to the four patriarchs buried in Hebron. The name Hebron is already mentioned in Gen. 23, 2; 35, 27, and in Jos. 20, 7. Today it is called el-Halil («the friend,» understood as of God), a title given to Abraham from antiquity, as in the Book of Jubilees, 19, 9.
According to Num. 14, 23, Hebron was rebuilt seven years before Tanis, one of the capitals of Lower Egypt. Abraham settled near it and purchased the cave (v. MAKHPELAH) as a family burial place. Moses sent spies from there (Num. 13, 23), and when the Israelites, under Joshua’s leadership, occupied Palestine, Hebron was taken, its king Hoham killed, and the population exterminated or dispersed (Jos. 10, 3. 36–39; 12, 10), then repopulated with Calebites (Jos. 14, 12). It later became a city of refuge, and David, who had found refuge there while fleeing from Saul, chose it as his capital and remained there for seven and a half years (2 Sam. 2, 1–3, 11; 5, 1–5; 1 Kgs. 2, 11; 1 Chr. 29, 27). Absalom made it the center of his revolt against his father (2 Sam. 15, 7–10), and Rehoboam fortified II. During the exile it fell into the hands of the Edomites, from whom Judas Maccabaeus recaptured it (1 Macc. 5, 65). In the Jewish War it was burned by Cerealis, Titus’ lieutenant, and during the Byzantine period it held little importance. Occupied by the Arabs in 634, it became one of their four holy cities because of the memory of Abraham. The Crusaders built a praesidium or Castellum sancti Abrahae there and elevated it to a bishopric in 1168. Nineteen years later it returned to Muslim hands and has remained so to this day.
The city is largely situated in a fertile basin rich in springs. In 1948 it had about 20,000 inhabitants, but now it has more, having taken in many refugees from the territories occupied by the Jews. No excavations have been carried out, but on the hill of er-Rumejdeh the ruins of el-Arba’in are visible, recalling the ancient name of the city, where shards from the Bronze Age III and Iron Age II have been found. Jar handles bearing the inscription «l’melekh, H.» are known.