Bible Encyclopedias
Shaphir

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

shā´fẽr ( שׁפיר , shāphı̄r , "glittering"; καλῶς , kalṓs ; the King James Version Saphir ): One of a group of towns mentioned in Micah 1:10-15 . From the association with Gath, Achzib (of Judah) and Mareshah, it would seem that the places mentioned were in Southwestern Palestine. According to Eusebius, in Onomasticon , there was a Σαφείρ , Sapheı́r , "in the hill country" (from a confusion with Shamir (Joshua 15:48 ), where Septuagint A has Sapheir) between Eleutheropolis and Ascalon. The name probably survives in that of three villages called es -Sūāfir , in the plain, some 3 1/2 miles Southeast of Ashdod (PEF , II, 413, Sh XV). Cheyne (EB , col. 4282) suggests the white "glittering" hill Tell eṣ -Ṣāfı , at the entrance to the Wâdy eṣ -Sunt , which was known to the Crusaders as Blanchegarde , but this site seems a more probable one for GATH (which see).