One of the five cities of the "plain" or circle of Jordan. It is mentioned in (Genesis 10:19; 14:2,8; 29:23; Hosea 11:8) in each, of which passages it is either coupled with Admah or placed next it in the lists --perhaps represented by Talaa Sebaan , a name attached to extensive ruins on the high ground between the Dead Sea and Kerak . In (Genesis 14:2,8) the name is given more correctly in the Authorized Version ZEBOIIM.
The valley of Zeboim, a ravine or gorge, apparently east of Michmash, mentioned only in (1 Samuel 13:18) The road running from Michmash to the east is specified as "the road of the border that looketh to the ravine of Zeboim toward the wilderness." The wilderness is no doubt the district of uncultivated mountain tops and sides which lies between the central district of Benjamin and the Jordan valley. In that very district there is a wild gorge bearing the name of Shuk ed-Dubba' , ravine of the hyena, "the exact equivalent of Ge hat-tsebo'im .
