Lo-debar

{{Short description|Biblical town}}

Lo-debar ({{Langx|hbo|לֹא דְבָר, לוֹ דְבָר|translit=lōʾ dǝbār}}{{Efn|The לא spelling is found in 2Sam 17:28, while לו is used in 2Sam 9:4-5. According to some, the לא spelling is also found in Amos 6:13. לִדְבִר is found in Josh 13:26.}}) was a town in the Old Testament in Gilead not far from Mahanaim, north of the Jabbok river ({{bibleverse|2|Samuel|9:4-5}}){{Cite EBD|title=Lo-debar}} in ancient Israel. It is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the home of Machir, a contemporary of David. (2 Samuel 9:4,5).

Lo-debar was also considered a ghetto town in biblical times. Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan was living in Lo-debar at the house of Machir, son of Ammiel, who was possibly a brother to David's wife Bathsheba (see 1 Chronicles 3 verse 5). King David showed loving kindness to Jonathan's son Mephibosheth by bringing him from Lo-debar and having him eat at the King's table regularly. (2 Samuel 9:1-13).

It is usually believed to be the same as Debir in the Tribe of Gad.({{bibleverse||Joshua|13:26}}) The word means "no pasture,"({{bibleverse|2|Samuel|17:27}}) "no word" or "no communication".

Possible locations are:

1. Tel Dover (Khirbet ed-Duweir) in the mouth of Yarmouk River.{{Cite book | publisher = Eisenbrauns | isbn = 9781575061429 | last = Arav | first = Rami | title = Cities Through the Looking Glass: Essays on the History and Archaeology of Biblical Urbanism | date = 2008-01-01 | page = 89}} Established as an Iron Age fortified settlement.{{cite encyclopedia| first = Zvi Uri | last = Ma'oz | encyclopedia = The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East | contribution = Golan | date = 1997 | isbn = 0195112156 | page = 420}}
2. Khirbet Umm ed-Dabar, Jordan Valley.{{Cite encyclopedia| publisher = Amsterdam University Press| isbn = 9789053565032| last = Freedman| first = David Noel|author2=Allen C. Myers | title = Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible| date = 2000-12-31| article = Debir (place)| page = 331}}