2. A son of Joktan of the line of Shem (Ge 10:21-30; 1Ch 1:17-23); progenitor of one of the 13 Arabian tribes. It may be that men of this nomadic tribe were the marauding “Sabeans” who made the raid described in Job 1:14, 15.

There were two Shebas in the line of Shem (SHEBA Nos. 2 and 3) who evidently settled in Arabia. However, some modern scholars believe that the people of this kingdom were Semitic, of the line of Joktan, descendants of Shem through Eber.