SHEBA
(a) = “oath.” Names of various people and places. Among them:
(A) Simeonite city, mentioned after Beersheba (Josh. 19:13). There are three opinions regarding its identification:
(I) The location could be Tell es-Seb’a, 5 km east of Beersheba.
(II) This name would be an alteration of Shema (cf. LXX and Jos. 15:26).
(III) Since Sheba does not appear in 1 Chron. 4:28, which corresponds to the enumeration of Joseph. 19:2-6, there are those who suppose that Seba would be a shortened form of Beersheba, or a term copied twice in error.
(B) Benjamite, son of Bicri, who, after Absalom’s usurpation had been suppressed, summoned the ten tribes against David and Judah. Sheba was besieged at Abel-beth-maacah.
The inhabitants of this city, which was in danger of being destroyed by Joab’s army for his sake, seized him and beheaded him, throwing his head over the wall (2 Sam. 20: 1-22), thus lifting the siege.
(C) Gadite who lived in Gilead, in the country of Bashan (1 Chr. 5:13, 16).
(b) Heb.: “man.”
(A) People descended from Cush through Raama and closely related to Dedan (Gen. 10:7).
However, they are also considered a Semitic people arising from Joktan (Gen. 10:26-29), and descendants of Abraham through Jokshan, the same as Dedan (Gen. 25:3).
The part of this nation related to Abraham headed east (Gen. 25:6; cf. Jb. 1:15; 6:19). (See ARABIA.) These people dwelt to the south (Mt. 12:42), and traded in gold, incense, and precious stones (1 Kings 10:1; Ps. 72:10; Isa. 60:6; Jer. 6 :20; Ez. 27:22; 38:13)
(B) The inscriptions of Sheba and the testimony of ancient geographers offer us abundant information about this people, who occupied southwest Arabia.
Marib, capital of Seba, had a famous dam, which completely broke between 542 and 570 BC, after having been repaired several times. Sheba had intense commercial traffic with India and Ethiopia.
It was a town that traveled vast spaces. In Assyrian times (8th century BC) it was located northwest of Arabia and in the northern desert, with the Nabataeans. Their language was southern Arabic.
In the course of his migrations, Seba incorporated other tribes, through marriages or the making of political pacts. That is why his genealogy includes ancestors from various lines.