H1687 — דְּבִיר (dᵉbîyr)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H1687
Original: דְּבִיר (or shortened דְּבִר)
Transliteration: dᵉbîyr (debir)
Pronunciation: deb-eer'
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: From דָּבַר (dabar, H1696) — apparently in the sense of "oracle" (speaker/speaking place); some lexicographers connect the root more naturally to Arabic dubr ("back, hindmost part"), yielding "innermost/rearmost room."
Occurrences: 16 unique verses in OT (16 tokens)
First Occurrence: 1 Ki 6:5 — "And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Or (shortened) דְּבִר dᵉbir; from דָּבַר (apparently in the sense of oracle); the shrine or innermost part of the sanctuary: — oracle.

The term designates the Most Holy Place of Solomon's temple — the rearmost, windowless cube (20 × 20 × 20 cubits per 1 Ki 6:20) housing the ark of the covenant between the two cherubim. Rendered "oracle" by KJV following the Vulgate oraculum, which reflects an ancient etymological link to dabar ("to speak") — the place from which God spoke (Exod 25:22; Num 7:89). Modern lexica generally prefer "inner sanctuary" / "Most Holy Place."

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
(the) oracle	14	87.5%
(holy) oracle	1	6.2%
within the oracle	1	6.2%

KJV renders דְּבִיר uniformly as "oracle" in every occurrence. The word is never translated "Most Holy Place" in KJV, though that is the referent (compare the Hebrew קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים qodesh haqqodashim in 1 Ki 6:16, which sits in apposition with debir).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
1 Kings	11	1.3
2 Chronicles	4	0.5
Psalms	1	0.04

Pattern: Nearly all occurrences cluster in the Solomonic temple-construction narratives (1 Ki 6–8; 2 Ch 3–5). The lone poetic use is Ps 28:2. The word is absent from the Pentateuch (which uses קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים for the tabernacle's inner room), absent from the prophets' temple visions (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel use other terminology), and absent from post-exilic temple texts (Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah). This makes debir a specifically Solomonic-temple term.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Architectural Designation — the Inner Sanctuary Room¶

References to the debir as the physical windowless cube at the rear of the temple. - 1 Ki 6:5 — chambers built "against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle" - 1 Ki 6:20 — "the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof" - 1 Ki 6:16 — "he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house… and he built it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place" - 2 Ch 4:20 — "the candlesticks… should burn after the manner before the oracle"

2. Resting Place of the Ark¶

The debir as destination/position of the ark of the covenant when the temple was dedicated. - 1 Ki 6:19 — "the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD" - 1 Ki 8:6 — "the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house" - 2 Ch 5:7 — parallel to 1 Ki 8:6 - 1 Ki 8:8 / 2 Ch 5:9 — staves of the ark seen "before the oracle"

3. Adorned/Overlaid Sacred Space¶

The debir as object of gold-overlay, cherub-making, and partition construction. - 1 Ki 6:21 — "he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold" - 1 Ki 6:22 — "the altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold" - 1 Ki 6:23 — "within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high" - 1 Ki 6:31 — "for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree"

4. Spatial Reference Point ("before the oracle")¶

Used to locate other temple furniture relative to the Most Holy Place. - 1 Ki 7:49 — candlesticks "five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle" - 2 Ch 3:16 — chains "as in the oracle" (pattern reference) - 2 Ch 4:20 — candlesticks "before the oracle"

5. Direction of Prayer / Direction of God's Presence¶

The single poetic/devotional usage. - Ps 28:2 — "Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle (דְּבִיר קָדְשֶׁךָ)"

Here debir transcends architecture and becomes theological orientation: the direction of God's dwelling, the place whence He speaks and hears prayer.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
בַּיִת (bayith, "house")	H1004	7x (44%)	"the oracle of/in the house" — debir as part of the temple complex
פָּנִים (panim, "face/before")	H6440	6x (38%)	"before the oracle" — spatial orientation toward the Holy of Holies
זָהָב (zahab, "gold")	H2091	5x (31%)	overlay of gold on/in the debir
קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, "holy")	H6944	5x (31%)	juxtaposition with holiness terminology (esp. "most holy place")
אָרוֹן (ʼarown, "ark")	H727	4x (25%)	the ark brought into / placed in the debir
סָגַר (cagar, "shut/enclose")	H5462	4x (25%)	overlaid, enclosed, shut in with gold
בְּרִית (bᵉriyth, "covenant")	H1285	3x (19%)	"ark of the covenant… into the oracle"
כְּרוּב (kᵉruwb, "cherub")	H3742	3x (19%)	cherubim within / above the debir
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	3x (19%)	"ark of the covenant of the LORD… into the oracle"
אַמָּה (ʼammah, "cubit")	H520	3x (19%)	20-cubit dimensions of the debir

Word Family / Cognates¶

H1696 דָּבַר (dabar) — to speak (the root verb; basis of the "oracle" gloss)
H1697 דָּבָר (dabar) — word, matter, speech
H1699 דֹּבֶר (dober) — pasture, fold (homograph, unrelated sense)

Synonyms¶

קֹדֶשׁ קֳדָשִׁים — functional equivalent for the same inner-sanctuary space; in Kings the debir is explicitly "the most holy place" (1 Ki 6:16).
search_relationships.py also surfaced the homographic Debir place-name cluster (H7158 קִרְיַת סַנָּה, קִרְיַת־סֵפֶר), but those belong to the separate proper-name usage and are not treated as sanctuary-sense synonyms here.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H1687.

Easily Confused Words (same or overlapping KJV translation / referent)¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Domain	Key Difference
קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים (qodesh haqqodashim)	H6944 (compound)	"Most Holy Place" — same room	Functional/holiness designation; used in Pentateuch for tabernacle, occasionally paired with debir in Kings (1 Ki 6:16; 7:50; 8:6)
הֵיכָל (heykal)	H1964	"temple, palace"	The larger nave/holy place (40 × 20 cubits); the room in front of the debir
בַּיִת (bayith)	H1004	"house" of the LORD	The whole temple building, of which the debir is the innermost part
מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash)	H4720	"sanctuary"	General term for sanctuary/holy place; broader than debir
אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד (ʼohel moʻed)	H168+H4150	"tent of meeting"	Tabernacle counterpart; never uses debir

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[001002009001] Buildings — search_relationships.py places dᵉbîyr in the construction/building field alongside H92 אֲגֻדָּה, H352 אַיִל, and the cubit term A521/H520/H522 אַמָּה, matching the word's architectural sense.
[003001007] Names of People — the relationship tool also surfaces this broad proper-name bucket because debir is homographic with a name cluster elsewhere in the lexicon.
[003001010] Names of Locations — likewise, the output catches the Debir city-name tradition, alongside location names such as H57 אָבֵל, H1038/H62 אָבֵל בֵּית מַעֲכָה, and H63 אָבֵל הַשִּׁטִּים.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	Notes
χρηματιστήριον / τὸ δαβιρ (transliteration)	—	variable	LXX frequently transliterates the Hebrew as δαβιρ in 3 Kingdoms (1 Ki) and 2 Chronicles rather than translating
ἅγιος (hagios, "holy")	G40	6x	PMI 4.03 — associated via "holy oracle / most holy" phrasing
περιέχω (periechō, "encompass")	G4023	3x	PMI 7.59 — structural/architectural contexts
χρυσίον (chrysion, "gold")	G5553	4x	collocation with gold-overlay passages
κιβωτός (kibōtos, "ark")	G2787	3x	ark-placement passages
οἶκος (oikos, "house")	G3624	6x	temple-house contexts
πρόσωπον (prosōpon, "face/before")	G4383	5x	"before the oracle" idiom

The LXX does not settle on a single Greek equivalent for debir. It often transliterates (δαβιρ) or renders by context (τὸ ἅγιον τῶν ἁγίων, "the holy of holies"). There is no direct 1:1 Greek counterpart, so no strong cross-testament bridge word exists.