Dibri

Biblical Account

Dibri appears only in Leviticus 24:11. Scripture states just two facts about him: he belonged to the tribe of Dan, one of the twelve tribes of Israel, and he had a daughter named Shelomith. Nothing is recorded about his life or deeds.

His name occurs in the passage recounting an incident involving his grandson. According to Leviticus 24:10–23, the son of Shelomith, an Israelite woman, and an Egyptian man fought with an Israelite man in the camp. In the course of the quarrel he blasphemed the name of the LORD and cursed. The people brought him to Moses and kept him in custody until the will of the LORD should be made known. The LORD commanded that he be brought outside the camp, that all who had heard him curse lay their hands upon his head, and that the whole congregation stone him. The children of Israel did as the LORD commanded (Leviticus 24:23). Prompted by this incident, the text adds the statute that anyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD, whether stranger or native-born, shall be put to death, along with the law of like-for-like retribution.

Significance Within Scripture

The text mentions Dibri only to identify Shelomith's family and tribe. It is noteworthy that the passage never gives the name of the offender himself, yet records the names of his mother and maternal grandfather. Some read this as an indication that the incident took place within a particular, real family in the Israelite community. Dibri is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Discussion

• The Hebrew name Dibri is sometimes explained in connection with a root meaning "to speak."
• Rabbinic literature and medieval commentators such as Rashi are known to have added to this passage details not found in the biblical text. Examples include the interpretation that Shelomith was a talkative woman and the view that the Egyptian father was the Egyptian taskmaster killed by Moses. These are later traditions, not what the text of Leviticus states.
• Christian commentary tends to focus less on Dibri himself than on the commandment to hold the name of God holy (the third commandment of the Ten Commandments) and on the principle that the law applies equally to the stranger and the native-born (Leviticus 24:22).

In the Korean Church

Because Dibri is mentioned only once and briefly, he is rarely treated on his own in sermons or Sunday school. His name generally comes up only when the blasphemy incident is explained during reading through the Bible or in expositions of Leviticus 24. Both the Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version render the name as "Dibri" (디브리).