Who was Seba?

The story of Seba

Seba is a son of Cush in the Table of Nations, and his name also appears in Scripture as the name of a land or people descended from him. Genesis lists Seba first among the sons of Cush, with his brothers Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabtecha (Genesis 10:7), and 1 Chronicles repeats the list (1 Chronicles 1:9). Cush is a son of Ham (Genesis 10:6), so Seba belongs to the line of Ham, son of Noah (Genesis 10:1).

The same verses name Sheba and Dedan as sons of Raamah, which makes Sheba a nephew of Seba, not his descendant (Genesis 10:7). Later books use Seba as the name of a distant nation. Psalm 72 says the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts to the king, naming the two as separate realms (Psalms 72:10).

In Isaiah the LORD tells Israel, I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee, setting Seba beside Egypt and Ethiopia (Isaiah 43:3). In the KJV, Ethiopia renders the Hebrew Cush, the region south of Egypt. Scripture does not say where exactly Seba lay, and it records nothing else about Seba the man.

First mention

Genesis 10:7

Appearances in the Bible

4 mentions

Questions about Seba