Sabeans

The Sabeans were the inhabitants of Seba (or Sheba), a people descended from Cush through his son Seba (Gen. 10:7). Their relationship to the more famous kingdom of Sheba — the realm of the Queen of Sheba — has been debated: some equate Seba with Sheba (both names deriving from related roots), while others distinguish them as a Cushite (African) people near Ethiopia from the South Arabian Sheba. Isaiah identifies Seba as an African people associated with Egypt and Ethiopia (Isa. 43:3), and describes them as men of stature engaged in commerce (Isa. 45:14). Their conversion to Israel's God and tribute to the Messianic king are prophesied in Psalm 72:10: "The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts." The Sabeans are mentioned in the book of Job as marauders who carried off Job's oxen and donkeys and slew his servants (Job 1:15), indicating a predatory nomadic tribe, possibly distinct from the more settled trading nation of Sheba.