Debir, or Kiriath-sepher, otherwise Kiriath-sannah

(Josh. 10:38, 39; 11:21; Judg. 1:14; 1 Chron. 6:58; Josh. 15:49): a) — a city in the hill country of the tribe of Judah and, in all likelihood, the center of learning of the Canaanite people, as we may judge from its name; for the word “Debir” means “oracle,” “sanctuary,” while “Kiriath-sepher” means “city of books,” and “Kiriath-sannah” means “learning.” This place served as a stronghold for the Anakim who lived in it, but was afterward conquered by Joshua (Josh. 10:38, 39) and given to the tribe of Judah.

The Canaanites reconquered it, but under Othniel, son of Kenaz, it was again returned to the Israelites (Judg. 15:15, 17). Afterward it became a city of the Levites (Josh. 21:15). There was another city under this same name, otherwise Lo-debar, located in the territory of the tribe of Gad, east of the Jordan (Josh. 13:26), known as the dwelling place of Mephibosheth during his youth (2 Sam. 9:4, 5), and a third on the border of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin (cf. Josh. 13:26 and 15:7), near the valley of Achor; b) (1 Kings 6:5; 8:19–23, and elsewhere) — the compartment in Solomon’s Temple for the Holy of Holies, or the inner part of Solomon’s Temple, where, between the cherubim, under their wings, the Ark of the Covenant was placed.