or to a number of very hard substances, such as corundum and emery.

The use of diamonds for scratching or engraving hard materials is applied by Jehovah, in saying: “The sin of Judah is written down with an iron stylus. With a diamond point it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars.” (Jer. 17:1, 2) The house of Israel also became obstinate and hardhearted. Therefore, Jehovah said to Ezekiel: “Look! I have made your face exactly as hard as their faces and your forehead exactly as hard as their foreheads. Like a diamond, harder than flint, I have made your forehead.” (Ezek. 3:7-9) Similarly, because of the Jews’ stubbornness, Jehovah declared through Zechariah: “Their heart they set as an emery stone [Heb., sha·mirʹ] to keep from obeying the law and the words that Jehovah of armies sent by his spirit, by means of the former prophets.”—Zech. 7:12; see JEWELS AND PRECIOUS STONES.

DIBLAH

(Dibʹlah) [perhaps, cake of pressed figs].

A site mentioned by Ezekiel (6:14) when recording Jehovah’s prophecy of the desolation to come upon the land of Israel as recompense for its idolatrous worship. Any ancient location by this name is unknown, and most modern authorities, therefore, hold that “Diblah” is a copyist’s error for “Riblah,” the initial Hebrew letter for “R” (====) being easily mistaken for the Hebrew letter for “D” (====). If this is the case, it may be identified with the Biblical Riblah (modern Ribleh) at the Orontes River, “in the land of Hamath” (2 Ki. 23:33), and “the wilderness toward Diblah [Riblah]” could have reference to the gravelly unbroken plain of the Syrian Desert that lies to the S and SE of Riblah. Some translators, however, render Ezekiel’s words to read “from the wilderness to Riblah.” (RS) According to such rendering the meaning might be that Jehovah’s judgment would extend from “the wildeness,” Palestine’s traditional southern boundary (Ex. 23:31), to the region of “Hamath” (represented by Riblah) in the northernmost quarter of Palestine. (1 Ki. 8:65) Ezekiel’s use of such a phrase would then be the equivalent of the better known “from Dan down to Beer-sheba.”—Judg. 20:1; see RIBLAH.

DIBLAIM

(Dib·laʹim) [lump of figs, raisin cakes].

Parent of Hosea’s wife Gomer.—Hos. 1:2, 3.

DIBON

(Diʹbon).

1. A city E of the Dead Sea, wrested from the Moabites by Sihon the Amorite, but later taken from him by Israel at the time of the Israelite entry into the land under Moses.—Num. 21:25-30.

Ancient Dibon is today identified with Dhiban, just N of the Arnon River, thirteen miles (20.9 kilometers) E of the Dead Sea. It has been the site of recent intensive archaeological investigations and achieved some fame as the scene of the discovery of the famous Moabite Stone in 1868. Statements on this stele, set up by Mesha, the king of Moab, have been interpreted by some to identity Dibon as his capital city (called Qarhah) and as “the chief city of Moab” at one time.

Soon after the initial Israelite conquest of this area the tribe of Gad lived there and “proceeded to build [or, rebuild] Dibon,” apparently giving it the lengthened name of Dibon-gad, a location listed as one of the nation’s camping sites. (Num. 32:34; 33:45, 46) However, Dibon was considered as part of the inheritance of Reuben. (Num. 32:2, 3; Josh. 13:8, 9, 15-17) Dibon probably suffered under the revival of Moabite power during the reign of King Eglon, until it gained relief as a result of Judge Ehud’s victory. (Judg. 3:12-30) Mesha, king of Moab, revolted against Israelite domination many centuries later, “as soon as Ahab died” (c. 919-918 B.C.E.), according to the Bible account at 2 Kings 3:4, 5. The Bible does not say precisely how long this uprising lasted, and it is possible, as Mesha boasts on the Moabite Stone, that he managed to annex several Israelite cities to “Qarhah” at that time. Nevertheless, unlike Mesha’s propagandistic inscription, the Scriptural record makes it clear that Moab was soundly defeated when its forces entered into battle against the combined armies of Israel, Judah and Edom.—2 Ki. 3:4-27.

Less than two hundred years later Dibon was once more known as a Moabite city, and against it Isaiah (15:2) uttered a pronouncement of doom. The inhabitants of the region are therefore spoken of prophetically as going “up to The House and to Dibon, to the high places,” mourning the desolation of Moab.

Certain scholars have theorized that Isaiah alluded to the threatening Assyrian menace as causing the “weeping” at the “high places” near Dibon; however, there is no record of an Assyrian devastation of that region. When Jehovah’s servant Jeremiah prophesied about a hundred years later that Dibon would “get down from glory, and sit down in thirst” (Jer. 48:18), Isaiah’s earlier prophecy had apparently not yet been fulfilled. Therefore the later prophet was evidently presenting anew a similar message and thereby making the prediction of doom on Moab doubly certain. Sometime after the fall of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E., when Nebuchadnezzar thoroughly devastated Moab, he may have left Dibon’s citizens, not only ‘thirsting’ for the luxuries of its previous glory, but also forsaken as humbled captives, literally thirsting for water and other common necessities.—Jer. 25:9, 17-21.

The finding of large stores of remarkably preserved grain at Dibon, which grain is considered to date back to sometime in the latter half of the first millennium B.C.E., seems to confirm the view of some that the Dibon region, even today an agriculturally productive area, may have at one time been a “breadbasket” of Palestine.

Some commentators consider Dibon to be the same as Dimon mentioned in Isaiah 15:9; a discussion of the arguments for and against this view are found in the article DIMON.

2. A location in Judah (Neh. 11:25), thought by some to be the same as Dimonah.—Josh. 15:22; see DIMONAH.

DIBON-GAD

See DIBON No. 1.

DIBRI

(Dibʹri) [wordy].

An Israelite of the tribe of Dan whose daughter Shelomith married an Egyptian. Shortly after the exodus from Egypt the son of this union was stoned to death for abusing Jehovah’s name.—Lev. 24:10-16, 23.

DIDRACHMA

A Greek silver coin having the value of two drachmas or 28 1/5c according to modern values. The Jews paid a yearly temple tax of two drachmas or a didrachma.—Matt. 17:24, NW, 1950 ed., ftn.

DIʹGAMMA

[====] .

A letter appearing in the ancient Greek alphabet but which went out of general use at an early period. It was retained, however, as a numeral denoting the number 6. The name diʹgam·ma given the letter is due to its resemblance to two capital gamʹma letters on top of each other (====). Some suggest that it corresponded to the Hebrew waw (====) and had the sound of “v” or “w.” In the Greek manuscript that John wrote, the number 666 as found at Revelation 13:18 may have been represented by the three Greek letters: Khi (==== =six hundred), Xi (==== =sixty) and Diʹgam·ma (==== = six).

DIKLAH

(Dikʹlah) [perhaps date tree, palm].

A descendant of Shem through Joktan (Gen. 10:21, 26, 27; 1 Chron. 1:17, 20, 21) Some geographers believe his tribe settled in S Arabia, perhaps occupying part of present-day Yemen. This, however, cannot be determined with any certainty.