Oreb (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: עֹרֵב, ''Orev'') and Zeeb (

: זְאֵב, ''Z'ev'') were two Midianite princes mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Oreb ()churchofjesuschrist.org: "Book of Mormon Pronunciation Guide"
(retrieved 2012-02-25),

IPA IPA commonly refers to: * India pale ale, a style of beer * International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation * Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound IPA may also refer to: Organizations International * Insolvency Practitioners ...

-ified from «ōr´ĕb» is a

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

name, meaning ''raven'' while Zeeb means ''wolf''.Peake's Commentary, Judges, p 310, 256g By the time of the Judges, Oreb and Zeeb were raiding Israel with the use of swift

camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...

s, until they were decisively defeated by

Gideon Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites are recounted in of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. Gideon was the son of Joash, from the Abiez ...

(). Many of the Midianites perished along with him (; ). These later references reflect the importance ascribed to the victories as symbols of God's power mediated through his chosen people. The place where Gideon slew Oreb after the defeat of the Midianites was called the ''Rock of Oreb''. It was probably the place now called Orbo, on the east of Jordan, near

Bethshean Beit She'an ( he, בֵּית שְׁאָן '), also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan ( ar, بيسان ), is a town in the Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is be ...

. Zeeb was killed at "the wine press of Zeeb". The historicity of the names is in doubt, Coggins postulates the names of geographical features were attached to the leaders in retrospect.''Who's Who in the Bible'', Richard Coggins, Batsford, London, p 122. 1981

References

Midian Monarchs of the Hebrew Bible {{Hebrew-Bible-stub