Dabbeath

(to pasture, to drive out to pasture, hence: pasture, enclosure) (Josh. 19:12) — at first glance it would seem that this was a city of the tribe of Zebulun, but from the book of Joshua (21:28) and 1 Chronicles (6:72) it is evident that it was located in the tribe of Issachar and was only on the border with the tribe of Zebulun. Situated on the western slope of Mount Tabor, it is, in all probability, identical with the village now called Deburieh. Calmet, following the etymology he accepted, supposes that this place was famed for its learning, being something in the nature of a Levitical and priestly academy.

The ancient tradition, relating that the boy possessed by a demon at the new moon (Matt. 17:14–18) was healed by the Lord after the Transfiguration precisely in this village, is fairly plausible; as is also another tradition, which points in this same place to the well of the nine apostles, at which they waited during the Transfiguration of the Lord on Tabor — this too is not without due foundation.