SHEBA shē’ bə (סְבָא׃֙).

1. A son of Raamah, who was a descendant of Cush, son of Ham (Gen 10:7; 1 Chron 1:9). He was a brother of Dedan.

2. A son of Joktan, who was a descendant of Shem (Gen 10:28; 1 Chron 1:22).

3. A son of Jokshan, who was a descendant of Abraham and Keturah (Gen 25:3; 1 Chron 1:32). He also was a brother of Dedan.

It is uncertain whether Sheba 1, 2, 3 refer to one, two, or three persons. The possibility that these three may be one person or tribe is strengthened by the facts that 1, 2, and 3 are all associated with names connected with Arabia, that 1 and 2 both have Dedan as a brother, and that both 2 and 3 are in the line of Shem. That 1 is in the line of Cush and Ham may indicate the close relationship between the South Arabians and Africans (Hamites).

4. A country in SW Arabia, now Yemen, the most mountainous and fertile part of Arabia. The genealogists of the Bible regarded the person Sheba (see above) as the source of this country’s name and the progenitor of its people, the Sabeans (q.v.). This country gained wealth through control of the trade in perfumes and incense, which were important in the life and religion of the ancient world. Camel caravans from Sheba (Job 6:19) carried northward to the Mediterranean countries the gold, precious stones, and frankincense of S Arabia (Isa 60:6; Jer 6:20; Ezek 27:22). The capital of Sheba was first Sirwāḥ and then Mārib. At Mārib are the remains of a great dam and of the temple of the moon-god, Ilumquh. In the thousands of Sabean inscrs. are the names of many of their priest rulers.

In the 10th cent. b.c. the Queen of Sheba (q.v.) visited Solomon (1 Kings 10:1-13; 2 Chron 9:1-12). Her camel caravan brought typical products of Sheba: gold, precious stones, and spices, which she exchanged with Solomon.

Sheba also had a place in Israel’s expectations for the future. It was hoped that Sheba would give gifts to the king of Israel (Ps 72:10, 15) and praise to the God of Israel (Isa 60:6). See Sabeans.

Bibliography G. W. Van Beek, “Recovering the Ancient Civilization of Arabia,” BA XV (1952), 2-18; W. Phillips, Qataban and Sheba (1955); R. L. Bowen, F. W. Albright, Archaeological Discoveries in South Arabia, II (1958); G. W. Van Beek, “South Arabian History and Archaeology,” The Bible and the Ancient Near East (1961), 229-248; A. Jamme, Sabaean Inscriptions from Mahram Bilqis (Marib) (1962); H. von Wissmann, Zur Geschichte und Landeskunde von Alt-Südarabien (1964).

5. A town in the territory of Simeon (Josh 19:2). Perhaps its site is marked by the ruin Tell es-Saba’, two m. E of Beer-sheba. Some scholars think that this Sheba is a scribe’s reduplication of part of the preceding Beersheba (see NEB), since Sheba is lacking in the parallel list in 1 Chronicles 4:28 and since with Sheba there are fourteen towns listed, not the “thirteen” of Joshua 19. Others think that the original reading was Shema, which is the reading here and in 1 Chronicles 4:28 of MS B of the LXX and of the Heb. in a similar list in Joshua 15:26.

Bibliography C. L. Woolley, T. E. Lawrence, The Wilderness of Zin (1914), 45, 46; F.-M. Abel, Géographie de la Palestine, II (1938), 452; J. J. Simons, GTT (1959), 153.

6. A Benjaminite, son of Bichri, who revolted against David (2 Sam 20:1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 21, 22). His revolt appealed to followers of Saul’s family, since he was a Benjaminite and perhaps a relative of Saul. Also he appealed to all northern Israelites with his rallying cry, “We have no portion in David...every man to his tents, O Israel” (2 Sam 20:1), a cry which was repeated later in Jeroboam’s rebellion (1 Kings 12:16). Joab and the royal bodyguard pursued Sheba until he took refuge in Abel of Beth-maacah in the northernmost part of Israel. Joab besieged the city until the inhabitants decapitated Sheba and threw his head over the city wall to Joab.

Bibliography A. Alt, Kleine Schriften, II (1953), 56-59; J. Bright, A History of Israel (1959), 188, 189.

7. The founder of a family in the tribe of Gad (1 Chron 5:13). According to v. 17, his family was enrolled in the official genealogies in the time of Jeroboam II of Israel.