Bible Locations

Chezib, or Kezib, appears in Genesis 38:5, in the story of Judah and Tamar. After Judah left his brothers and stayed with Hirah the Adullamite, he married a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua. She bore him three sons, Er, Onan and Shelah. "She was at Kezib when she gave birth to him," meaning Shelah. Chezib is the same as Achzib in the Shephelah of Judah (Joshua 15:44), and it's probably also Cozeba in 1 Chronicles 4:22, where descendants of Shelah lived. It's usually identified with Tell el-Beida, near Adullam and Lachish, in the low hill country southwest of Jerusalem. This area was where Judah spent time among the Canaanites, and where his family story unfolded. Later, the prophet Micah made a pun on Achzib, saying it would be "deceptive" to Israel's kings (Micah 1:14).