SHEBA (2)

she'-ba (shebha`; Sabee, or Samaa): The name of one of the towns allotted to Simeon (Joshua 19:2). the King James Version mentions it as an independent town, but as it is not mentioned at all in the parallel list (1 Chronicles 4:28), and is omitted in Joshua 19:2 in some manuscripts, it is probable that the Revised Version (British and American) is correct in its translation "Beer-sheba or Sheba." Only in this way can the total of towns in this group be made 13 (Joshua 19:6). If it is a separate name, it is probably the same as SHEMA (which see).

E. W. G. Masterman

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.