Bible Dictionaries
Seir

Holman Bible Dictionary

(ssee' uhr) Place name meaning, “hairy” and thus “thicket” or “small forested region.” A mountain range which runs the length of biblical Edom, leading at times to an equation of Edom and Seir. Parts of the range are almost impassable. The highest peak is about 5,600 feet about sea level. The region was home to Esau and his descendants (Genesis 32:3; Joshua 24:4 ). Some documents found in Egypt seem to make Seir and Edom two different tribal habitats, and it is possible that at times in its history the area was ruled over simultaneously by several local clans. The “sons of Seir” represented an early Horite clan from the region. See Edom .