the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Bible Encyclopedias
Gibeah
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or The name of several cities situated on hills. The difficulty of keeping these distinct is increased by the fact that sometimes "Geba" is used for "Gibeah," and vice versa (see GEBA). In one passage, however, Isaiah 10:29, "Geba" is distinguished from the "Gibeah of Saul," which must have been near Ramah; according to Josephus ("Ant." 5:2, § 8; "B. J." 5:2, § 1), it was situated about thirty furlongs from Jerusalem, and is by most scholars rightly identified with Tulail al-Ful. This agrees with Joshua 18:24,28, which enumerates both Geba ("Gaba") and Gibeah ("Gibeath") among the cities of Benjamin. In the following passages "Gibeah" may with certainty be identified with the present Jeba': Judges 20:33;1 Samuel 13:16, 14:5. It is probable, moreover, that the references in 1 Kings 15:22; 2 Kings 23:8; 2 Chronicles 16:6; Zechariah 14:10 are to Geba. Doubtless the same city is also referred to under the name "Gibeah" in 1 Samuel 13:15; 14:2,16; and perhaps in 13:2.
The Gibeah which is identical with Tulail al-Ful is met with as Saul's Gibeah in 1 Samuel 10:26, 11:4, 15:34, 22:6, and as Benjamin's Gibeah in Judges 19:12-16, 20:4 et seq., and in Hosea 5:8, 9:9, 10:9. Geba is mentioned in one passage (Judges 20:10); here again Gibeah (Tulail al-Ful) may be intended; whereas its identification with the "hill ["gibeah"] of God," 1 Samuel 10:5 (with which the Geba in 1 Samuel 13:3 must coincide), is very doubtful (comp. Budde's commentary ad loc.). Several passages in which one or the other name occurs are also doubtful, viz., "Geba" in Joshua 21:17; 1 Chronicles 6:45, 8:6; Ezra 2:26; Nehemiah 7:30, 11:31, 12:29, and "Gibeah" in 2 Samuel 23:29; 1 Chronicles 11:31, 12:3; 2 Chronicles 13:2. In some passages "Gibeah" or "Geba" occurs incorrectly for "Gibeon," e.g., Judges 20:31; 2 Samuel 5:25, 21:6.
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Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Gibeah'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/g/gibeah.html. 1901.
