Chephirah was one of the Gibeonite towns that became part of the territories of Benjamin and Judah.
Also known as Kephirah
Chephirah was one of the four Gibeonite cities, along with Gibeon, Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim, that deceived Joshua and the Israelites into making a peace treaty with them (Joshua 9:17). The Gibeonites, fearing destruction by the Israelites, sent ambassadors disguised as travelers from a distant land to seek a covenant of peace. Joshua and the leaders of Israel made a treaty with them without consulting the Lord, only to discover later that the Gibeonites were actually their neighbors.
As a result of the treaty, the Gibeonites were spared but were assigned to serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and the altar of the Lord (Joshua 9:27). Chephirah, along with the other Gibeonite cities, was initially allotted to the tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18:26) but later became part of the territory of Judah.
After the Babylonian exile, the descendants of the Gibeonites, including those from Chephirah, returned to their cities and were counted among the people of Israel (Ezra 2:25; Nehemiah 7:29). The town's mention in these post-exilic records indicates that it was still inhabited and recognized as a distinct community during the Persian period.
Approximate location: 31.836, 35.095 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
Village, one of the four cities of the Gibeonitish Hivites with whom Joshua made a league (9:17). It belonged to Benjamin. It has been identified with the modern Kefireh, on the west confines of Benjamin, about 2 miles west of Ajalon and 11 from Jerusalem.
(the hamlet), one of the four cities of the Gibeonites, (Joshua 9:17) named afterwards among the towns of Benjamin. (Ezra 2:25; Nehemiah 7:29)
CHEPHI'RAH (village), one of four towns of the Gibeonites, belonging to Benjamin, Josh 9:17; Josh 18:26 ; Ezr 2:25; probably now Kefir, 8 miles west of Gibeon. Conder gives it as Kejireh.
CHEPHI'RAH (village), one of four towns of the Gibeonites, belonging to Benjamin, Josh 9:17; Josh 18:26 ; Ezr 2:25; probably now Kefir, 8 miles west of Gibeon. Conder gives it as Kejireh.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
4 verses in 3 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H3716
So the Israelites set out and on the third day arrived at their cities—Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.
Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah,
the men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743;
the men of Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743;
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.