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Etymology •
& Meaning •
Hebrew •
Greek •
Bible •
Names •
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Meaning and etymology of the name Zeboiim
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Zeboiim
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Zeboiim is a city that went down with Admah, Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 10:19 - not to be confused with Zeboim as mentioned in 1 Samuel 13:18).
The names Zeboiim and Zeboim are old enough to have nothing to do with the Hebrew of the Biblical texts that we have. NOBS Study Bible Name List taps into the Arabic equivalent (meaning Hyena) and reads Hyenas for both Zeboim and Zeboiim. But the only times that hyenas may be mentioned in the Bible (Isaiah 13:22, 34:14 and Jeremiah 50:39) the word is  ('i), from the root  ('wh), meaning howl. To a Hebrew audience, the name Zeboiim would not have meant Hyena.
According to Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names this name is a plural of the verb  (saba) meaning to fight, serve; or similar noun (saba) meaning war, army. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Gathering Of Troops Of Soldiers, i.e. a military city.
But what also, or even more so, rings a bell are the words  (sebi) meaning beauty, and (sebi), meaning gazelle. Both words are derivations of identical and assumed roots  which are identical to the verb (saba), meaning swell, swell up, and noun (sabeh), swelling.
To a Hebrew audience, the name Zeboiim probably would have meant either Gazelles, Beautiful Ones, or Bumps.
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