Dinhabah

Dinhabah was the royal city of Bela son of Beor, the first of the eight Edomite kings listed in Genesis 36:31-39 as ruling "before any king reigned over the Israelites" (Genesis 36:32, 1 Chronicles 1:43). The pairing of "Bela son of Beor" with the location Dinhabah has prompted scholarly speculation about a possible connection to Balaam son of Beor (the diviner of Numbers 22), though the texts treat them as distinct figures from different eras. The exact location of Dinhabah is unknown; it lay somewhere in the highlands of Edom south of the Dead Sea, possibly at Khirbet ed-Dabba or Dinheba in southern Jordan. The very specificity of the Edomite king-list — eight named monarchs with their fathers, capitals, and a few details — testifies that the descendants of Esau had developed a formal monarchy generations before Israel ever asked Samuel for a king.