And he went up thence to the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher.

And he went up thence against the inhabitants of Debir: now the name of Debir beforetime was Kiriath-sepher.

And going up from thence he came to the inhabitants of Dabir, which before was called Cariath-Sepher, that is to say, the city of letters.

And from there he went up against the inhabitants of Debir; now the name of Debir before was Kirjath-sepher.

and he goeth up thence unto the inhabitants of Debir; and the name of Debir formerly is Kirjath-Sepher.

He went up against the inhabitants of Debir. Now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath Sepher.

And ascending further from there, he came to the inhabitants of Debir, which before was called Kiriath-Sepher, that is, the City of Letters.

Ascenditque inde ad habitatores Debir, cujus nomen antea fuit Ciriath-sepher.

The name Debir belonged to two other places; namely,, that named in Joshua 15:7, between Jerusalem and Jericho, and the Gadite town mentioned in Joshua 13:26. The Debir here meant appears (and its site has been conjecturally placed at Dhaheriyeh (Conder)) to have been situated in the mountain district south of Hebron. It was one of the towns afterward assigned to the Levites. Its other name Joshua 15:49, "Kirjath-sannah", i. e. perhaps, "city of palm branches," or "city of law, or sacred learning," no less than the two given in the text, would indicate that Debir was an ancient seat of Canaanite learning, for Debir probably is equivalent to "oracle," and Kirjath-sepher means "city of books." This plurality of names marks the importance of the town, as the inducement held out in Joshua 15:16, by Caleb, to secure its capture (compare 1-Samuel 17:25; 1-Samuel 18:17), points to its strength.

Kirjath-sepher - The city of the book. Why so named is uncertain. It was also called Debir, and Kirjath-sannah. See Joshua 15:49.

And he went up from thence to the inhabitants of Debir,.... Having conquered Hebron, and got possession of that, Caleb marched to Debir, a city not many miles from Hebron, and seems to have been in the country, and part of the land, which was given him; of which See Gill on Joshua 10:38,
and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher; or "the city of books"; either a place of literature, a sort of an academy, or where was a public library; the Targum calls it Kirjatharche, or the city of the archives, in which were laid up the public records of the Canaanites; the same is called Kirjathsannah for the like reason; see Gill on Joshua 15:49.

Debir--"oracle." Its former name, Kirjath-sepher, signifies "city of the book," being probably a place where public registers were kept.

Debir - The same mentioned above, Joshua 15:7. The name was Kirjath - sepher - This clause seems to be added to distinguish this from the other Debir subdued by Joshua, Joshua 10:38-39.