CHOBA kō’ bå, CHOBAI kō’ bå ī (LXX Χωβά Judith 4:4 (3) [A, B]; 15:4 (5) [א*], 5 (6); Χωβαί chōbai—Judith 15:4 (5) [A, B א&supc.a;]; KJV, ASV CHOBA (4:4) but CHOBAI (15:4, 5); Jerusalem Bible always CHOBA; Vul. and Luther omit.

Choba is one of the towns which the Jews fortified when Holofernes invaded Pal. (Judg 4:4)—perhaps c. 350 b.c. After Judith had stealthily decapitated Holofernes in his bedroom the bewildered “Assyrians” fled in panic. The Jews chased them as far N as Choba (15:4, 5) and even beyond Damascus.

The precise location of Choba is unknown, but it should not be confused with Choba in Mauretania Sitifensis on the coast of N Africa. Choba might be Coabis—since it is mentioned with Jericho (4:4). Another possibility is Choba in Syria (cf. Gen 14:15). Perhaps the best scholarly guess is el-Mekhubbi c. eleven m. from Tubass and three m. from Besan.