(seven, or an oath)

1. one of the towns of the allotment of Simeon (Joshua 19:2), probably the same as Shema (Joshua 15:26)
2. The Joktanites were among the early colonists of southern Arabia, and the kingdom which they there founded was for many centuries called the kingdom of Sheba, after one of the sons of Joktan. The visit of the queen of Sheba to King Solomon (1 Kings 10:1) is one of the familiar Bible incidents. The kingdom of Sheba embraced the greater part of the Yemen, or Arabia Felix. It bordered on the Red Sea and was one of the most fertile districts of Arabia. Its chief cities, and probably successive capitals, were Seba, San’a (Uzal), and Zafar (Sephar). Seba was probably the name of the city, and generally of the country and nation.