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Lebonah (2)

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Lebonah (3)

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(Heb. Lebonah', לְבוֹנָה , frankincense, as often; Sept. Λεβωνά ), a town near Shiloh, north of the spot where the Benjamite youth were directed to capture the Shilonite maidens at the yearly festival held "on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem" (Judges 21:19). The earliest modern mention of it is in the Itinerary of the Jewish traveler hap-Parchi (A.D. cir. 1320), who describes it under the name of Lubin, and refers especially to its correspondence with the passage in Judges (see Asher's Benjamin of Tudela, 2:435). Brocardus mentions it as a very handsome village, by the name of Lemna, four leagues south of Nablus, on the right hand of the road to Jerusalem (chap. 7, p. 178). The identity of this place was again suggested by Manndrell, who calls it Leban (Trav. p. 86). It is no doubt the Lubban visited by Dr. Robinson on his way from Jerusalem to Nablû s (Bib. Researches, 3:90). He describes the khan el-Lubban as being now in ruins; but near by is a fine fountain of running water. From it a beautiful oval plain extends north about fifteen minutes, with perhaps half that breadth, lying here deep among the high rocky hills. About the middle of the western side, a narrow chasm through the mountain, called wady el-Lubban, carries off the waters of the plain and surrounding tract. The village of Lubban is situated on the north-west acclivity, considerably above the plain. It is inhabited; has the appearance of an old place; and in the rocks above it are excavated sepulchers (comp. De Saulcy, Narrative, 1:94, 95; Schwarz, Palest. p. 130; Wilson, 2:292 sq.; Bonar, p. 363; Mislin, 3:319; Porter, Handbook, p. 330; Van de Velde, Memoir, p. 330; Tristram, p. 160).